Google Search traffic remains strong despite the emergence of new AI search engines and AI-based search features. Competing AI search engines, including OpenAI’s ChatGPT and Microsoft’s Copilot, have not significantly impacted Google’s search queries.
Google’s growth amidst competition
According to new data from Datos’ clickstream panel, analysed by Sonata Insights and discussed in detail by Rand Fishkin at Sparktoro, Google experienced a slight increase in traffic from May 2023 to May 2024. The data shows that Google’s desktop visits grew by 1.4% during this period. Fishkin reported, “In May of 2024, Google had slightly more desktop visits than they did in May of 2023 (+1.4% growth), while the largest of the AI search players by this metric (Perplexity) saw a 42% growth, reaching 15.69 million visits.”
Fishkin emphasised Google’s dominance by noting, “Google had more than 290 times the number of search users as Perplexity in May.” He explained that Google’s users conducted approximately “200 searches per month,” compared to Perplexity’s users, who averaged about 15 searches. Perplexity’s users are only about 7.5% as active as Google’s.
Further insights and analysis can be downloaded on Datos blog, which provides a comprehensive look at search engine traffic and usage.
Google’s market share remains strong
Previous concerns about Google losing market share to Bing in May proved unfounded. Predictions about the slowing of traditional search engines have yet to materialize. Google’s search market share remains significant, indicating its continued dominance in the field.
Despite the rise of AI search features and speciality engines, Google’s substantial market share persists. Whether this will change over time remains to be seen, but for now, Google remains a leading player in the search engine market.
