Imagine a World without Google Search - ChatGPT may Make that Happen

Shaun
Mar 11, 2023
Apps, Browsers
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13

We’ve had the pleasure of searching for topics on Google Search for more than 20 years. With so many articles on the internet, it’s helped us find the top answers to our questions. Or has it? ChatGPT has entered the arena, providing better solutions and posing the question: Will we live in a world where Google Search no longer exists?

Imagine a World without Google Search - ChatGPT may Make that Happen

Before we delve into why ChatGPT is such a threat to the search engine, let’s discuss the current state of Google Search. Less than a decade ago, content creators were cheating the algorithm system, flooding articles with keywords just to rank well on searches. You had terrible phrases and abnormal headings, just so the article could place first on the search list.

Google has apparently been trying to fix this problem, but I don’t believe they have. While there have been massive core updates, they mainly pertain to product placements and reviews. Also, they mainly serve those organizations that pay them well. Today, searches on the engine as still, if not more, pathetic than they were before.

Don’t get me wrong; you’ll still find what you’re looking for, amid ads, featured snippets, company details, and other small windows. Those with high domain authorities dominate the first page results, no matter how bad the article is.

I experienced this myself personally last year, which is when I lost even more faith in SEO and Google searches. One of the new sites I manage is called Bonsai Alchemist. We’ve been building it up for more than a year now, but that’s beside the point.

There was one specific article (I can’t remember the name) where I wrote a long post on how to care for a specific bonsai tree. It had everything you ever needed to know to make sure that tree survived. To this day, when I search for the specific search team, you see the worst results appear. The top one is only about 300 words, not addressing the topic at all, just telling you what the tree is. That tree would die if you relied on that article.

Why are those results at the top? They are either paid-for ads or Google gives them a high-domain ranking for some odd reason from the past. 

What does this have to do with ChatGPT and the future of Google Search? Well, ChatGPT is already showing its superiority in terms of supplying answers quickly. How reliable they are is another question, but at least you have a ready solution. Also, it helps us develop outlines and ideas for content, which is something Google Search doesn’t do well at all. Well, at least not without the right plug-ins.

Here’s a quick experiment I ran for the purpose of this article. I asked both ChatGPT and Google Search “How to care for a japanese maple bonsai tree”. Here are the results presented side by side:

Now just looking at Google’s featured snippet that tells you only about watering, that’s not good enough. Of course, you can go through several of the listed articles, trying to work out which are common facts you can use. Or, you can just use ChatGPT; that’s already done that for you. Of course, my monster article on the Japanese Maple bonsai tree might be a massive read, which is where ChatGPT's solution wins again. Not everyone wants an essay; a quick guide like the above might be enough.

Sure, ChatGPT results aren’t 100% perfect, but the example above is just one way of showing that one day we might live in a world without Google Search. It already has competition from Bing’s new AI system. Who knows; maybe the so-called SEO will be replaced by techniques for getting your information and products recognized by ChatGPT and other AI systems.

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Comments

  1. bruh said on August 18, 2023 at 1:25 pm
    Reply

    Uhh, this has already been possible – I am not sure how but remember my brother telling me about it. I’m not a whatsapp user so not sure of the specifics, but something about sending the image as a file and somehow bypassing the default compression settings that are applied to inbound photos.

    He has also used this to share movies to whatsapp groups, and files 1Gb+.

    Like I said, I never used whatsapp, but I know 100% this isn’t a “brand new feature”, my brother literally showed me him doing it, like… 5 months ago?

  2. 💥 said on August 18, 2023 at 3:55 pm
    Reply

    Martin, what happened to those: 12 Comments (https://www.ghacks.net/chatgpt-gets-schooled-by-princeton-university/#comments). Is there a specific justifiable reason why they were deleted?

    Hmm, it looks like the gHacks website database is faulty, and not populating threads with their relevant cosponsoring posts.

  3. 45 RPM said on August 19, 2023 at 6:29 pm
    Reply

    The page on ghacks this is on represents the best of why it has become so worthless, fill of click-bait junk that it’s about to be deleted from my ‘daily reads’.

    It’s really like “Press Release as re-written by some d*ck for clicks…poorly.” And the subjects are laughable. Can’t wait for “How to search for files on Windows”.

    1. owl said on August 20, 2023 at 12:51 am
      Reply

      > The page on ghacks this is on represents the best of why it has become so worthless, fill of click-bait junk…

      Sadly, I have to agree.

      Only Martin and Ashwin are worth subscribing to.
      Especially Emre Çitak and Shaun are the worst ones.

      If ghacks.net intended “Clickbait”, it would mark the end of Ghacks Technology News.
      Ghacks doesn’t need crappy clickbaits. Clearly separate articles from newer authors (perhaps AIs and external sales person or external advertising man) as just “Advertisements”!

      We, the subscribers of Ghacks, urge Martin to make a decision.

  4. chessandonions said on August 20, 2023 at 12:40 am
    Reply

    because nevermore wants to “monetize” on every aspect of human life…

  5. Frank Rizzo said on August 20, 2023 at 11:52 pm
    Reply

    “Threads” is like the Walmart of Social Media.

  6. Ashray said on August 21, 2023 at 4:06 pm
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    How hard can it be to clone a twitter version of that as well? They’re slow.

  7. Paul(us) said on August 21, 2023 at 5:16 pm
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    Yes, why not mention how large the HD files can be?
    Why, not mention what version of WhatsApp is needed?
    These omissions make the article feel so bare. If not complete.

    1. Paul(us) said on August 21, 2023 at 5:18 pm
      Reply

      Sorry posted on the wrong page.

  8. Marc said on August 21, 2023 at 6:00 pm
    Reply

    such a long article for such a simple matter. Worthless article ! waste of time

  9. plusminus_ said on August 21, 2023 at 7:54 pm
    Reply

    I already do this by attaching them via the ‘Document’ option.

  10. John G. said on August 21, 2023 at 11:43 pm
    Reply

    I don’t know what’s going on here at Ghacks but it’s obvious that something is broken, comments are being mixed whatever the article, I am unable to find some of my later posts neither. :S

  11. Tom Hawack said on August 23, 2023 at 2:28 pm
    Reply

    Quoting the article,
    “As users gain popularity, the value of their tokens may increase, allowing investors to reap rewards.”

    Besides, beyond the thrill and privacy risks or not, the point is to know how you gain popularity, be it on social sites as everywhere in life. Is it by being authentic, by remaining faithful to ourselves or is it to have this particular skill which is to understand what a majority likes, just like politicians, those who’d deny to the maximum extent compatible with their ideological partnership, in order to grab as many of the voters they can?

    I see the very concept of this Friend.tech as unhealthy, propagating what is already an increasing flaw : the quest for fame. I won’t be the only one to count himself out, definitely.

    1. Tom Hawack said on August 23, 2023 at 2:34 pm
      Reply

      @John G. is right : my comment was posted on [https://www.ghacks.net/2023/08/23/what-is-friend-tech/] and it appears there but as well here at [https://www.ghacks.net/2023/07/08/how-to-follow-everyone-on-threads/]

      This has been lasting for several days. Fix it or at least provide some explanations if you don’t mind.

  12. Tom said on August 24, 2023 at 11:53 am
    Reply

    > Google Chrome is following in Safari’s footsteps by introducing a new feature that allows users to move the Chrome address bar to the bottom of the screen, enhancing user accessibility and interaction.

    Firefox did this long before Safari.

  13. Mavoy said on September 16, 2023 at 2:17 pm
    Reply

    Basically they’ll do anything except fair royalties.

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