Comment by tarsinge
3 months ago
I have been using DDG for years and even with Google quality having plunged it is neither better nor less expensive (nor the default when non technical users just type in the search bar of their browser). Yahoo has shown that even with immense brand recognition people will still switch if the alternative is really better. And if Google was 2x more expensive than DDG they’d switch too.
Regarding Microsoft it’s not as easy to switch as going on another website, OpenAI doesn’t have that ecosystem lock in.
> Yahoo has shown that even with immense brand recognition people will still switch if the alternative is really better.
But it didn’t, Google users beyond a few initial super users who switched early on in the late nineties/early two thousands, track directly with the massive growth in new active web users. These new first time web users, far more than switching made up the growth between 2002-2006 that made Google dominant over Yahoo. It also should be kept in mind how much better Google was over Yahoo, whereas I am doubtful LLMs will have such deviations in quality, looks more like the opposite.
Point remains, OpenAI will, in my opinion, retain the strongest consumer share of LLMs, regardless of output quality, introduction of ads, etc.
This is not ecosystem lock in, it is solely branding. What do you think most have in mind when you mention search? What when it comes to online shopping? Now do the same for “AI”. Only one brand comes to mind for most.