Google Search
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| Basic Information | |
|---|---|
| Release Year | 1998 |
| Product Type | Search Engine |
| In Production | Yes |
| Official Website | https://www.google.com |
Google Search is a search engine created and developed by Google LLC. It was released on September 27th, 1998.
Consumer-impact summary
User Privacy
Google Search stores long-term cookies to save user's preferences, something that has raised privacy concerns.
User Freedom
Some features such as disabling AI overview or AI mode cannot be disabled.
Business Model
Google Search engine gets revenue from ads shown at the top of search results.
Market Control
Google Search engine is the most used search engine in the world. According to StatCounter, Google Search has a 90.2% market share as of April 2026. [1]
Incidents
Integration of ads in the search engine
The search engine didn't have any ads at the beginning, but since October 2000, Google integrated ads at the top of the search results, being easily differenciable from regular search links. Over time, the platform has modified the hyperlink ads appearence to disguise them better as regular links.
Since 2000, these ads appeared at first in a yellow section, highlighting the hyperlinks inside that section were ads [citation needed]. Later this was modified, and the yellow section was removed and hyperlinks that were ads showed a small "ad" label next to them [citation needed]. In 2022, these labels were removed, and a "Sponsored" section was created. Links in this section have a similar appearence to links that are not ads. [2]
Priorization of showing sites with AI-generated content in Search results
On January 30th 2026, Louis Rossmann uploaded a video on YouTube [3] evidencing how Google Search SEO (Search Engine Optimization) has been modified to penalize web sites that do not contain AI-generated text. On February 12, he uploaded another video, showing how he managed to make his website the first on the search results page by adding AI-generated text to the site. [4]
Presence of malicious websites on search results
AI Overview (2023)
In May 2023, Google announced Search Generative Experience (SGE) for Google Search. AI Overview was released in May 2024 in the US. This feature appears at the top of search results, showing an AI-generated summary of the search.
It has been critiziced for giving false information due to hallucinations that even involded into suggesting to perform harmful activities. There's also criticism for its energy and resource consumption and how these summaries prevent people to access to web sites in order to get the information.
There's no official method to completely disable AI Overview. However, users have discovered that including offensive words in search prompts prevents the Overview summary to appear [citation needed].
AI Mode (2025)
AI mode is a feature introduced for Google Search in 2025 as an alternative form to search information on the web.
Additional AI integrations in Google Search (2026)
On May 19th, 2026, during the Google I/O were announced additional AI integrations for the search engine. These integrations involve modifications of the Search box and integration of Google Gemini Flash 3.5, predictive algorithms and the integration of "Search Agents", customizable AI agents dedicated to operate and search in user's behalf[5].[6]
These announcements sparked controversies involving AI mistakes, privacy concerns, integration of unnecessary features, environmental impact, reduction of human visits on websites and the possible control over the results a user can see.
Lawsuit
United States vs. Google (2020)
See also
References
- ↑ "Search Engine Market Share Worldwide". StatCounter. StatCounter. Apr 2026. Archived from the original on 2026-05-18. Retrieved 21 May 2026.
- ↑ "The word "ad" will no longer appear in Google search advertising, and company names and logos will also be added". LinkedIn. ScaleUp Marketing Solutions. 18 Oct 2022. Archived from the original on 2026-05-22. Retrieved 22 May 2026.
- ↑ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=II2QF9JwtLc
- ↑ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6uKZ84zwJI0
- ↑ Reid, Elizabeth (19 May 2026). "A new era for AI Search". Google Blog. Archived from the original on 2026-05-19. Retrieved 21 May 2026.
- ↑ Yildrim, Ece (19 May 2026). "Google Search Is Dead. Welcome to the Era of the 'Intelligent Search Box'". Gizmodo. Archived from the original on 2026-05-19. Retrieved 21 May 2026.