It’s not hard to imagine many AI-leveraging startups wanting a piece of the search engine market that’s been dominated by Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG, NASDAQ:GOOGL) for a few decades now. Indeed, profound technologies like generative AI have some serious disruptive potential. But whether they’re disruptive enough in the hands of various startups and fellow tech giants remains the trillion-dollar question.
After another remarkable quarter posted by Alphabet, I think GOOG stock investors can sleep comfortably at night knowing Google’s wide moat isn’t about to narrow to nothing anytime soon, or perhaps anytime in the distant future. There’s no question that new technologies like generative AI can act as a disruptive tool (let’s say, a battering ram) to break into new markets. That said, AI can also be a wonderful defense (perhaps a means to widen one’s moat further).
Given Alphabet’s AI talent and deep pockets, it will be hard for any firm to grab Google’s crown in search. But just because it’s a difficult feat doesn’t mean firms will not try to reach for that seemingly untouchable Google status. Here are three ways to play up-and-coming Google competitor stocks.
Amazon (AMZN)
Amazon (NASDAQ:AMZN) competes with Alphabet on numerous fronts, from the public cloud (AWS vs. Google Cloud) to streaming entertainment (Prime Video vs. YouTube) to ads and generative AI. In due time, it’s not hard to imagine the turf of the two tech giants overlapping further, as each firm’s market cap swells in size. And with Google search’s Shopping tab, perhaps many shoppers are starting to turn to the front page of the internet before heading over to Amazon.com!
Undoubtedly, the battle between the two titans will get even fiercer in the AI age. Amazon stands to gain a lot by taking a bit of share from Google Search. Though Amazon isn’t exactly a search company, it does incorporate many aspects of search on its own e-commerce website. The recently launched AI-powered Rufus shopping assistant seems to flex some pretty impressive search capabilities.
Further, Amazon founder Jeff Bezos’ massive bet on Google rival and promising tech unicorn Perplexity AI, I believe, could be a sign that Amazon has its sights set on AI search. Whether or not Mr. Bezos nudges Amazon to buy the firm or develop something similar to go after Google Search, the visionary has taken notice.
Microsoft (MSFT)
Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) has been competing with Google Search for quite some time now with its Bing search engine. Indeed, Bing has done somewhat decently over the years, but it has not been enough to put any meaningful dent in Google Search’s armor.
With ChatGPT’s AI powers added to Bing, Microsoft’s search engine may finally have a puncher’s chance to land a big shot on Google search.
That said, I don’t think Bing will have a realistic shot of grabbing Google’s search crown in the near future as it advances Gemini, Google’s impressive large language model. That, I think, could keep OpenAI on its toes through the next decade.
Though not a massive threat to Google Search, I would keep tabs on Bing, especially once GPT-5 (rumored to be releasing soon) rolls around. Perhaps that’s the battering ram needed to finally take a more meaningful share from Google.
Walmart (WMT)
I bet you weren’t expecting to see grocery retail juggernaut Walmart (NYSE:WMT) on this list of potential Google rivals. It’s a strange stock to consider a potential Google Search rival, but do hear me out. The company has been investing plenty in AI tech. And it may live up true to its popular low-cost private-label Great Value, as it looks to score a decent return on its tech bets.
Like Amazon, Walmart is leveraging generative AI to allow customers to search more effectively across its e-commerce platform. When it comes to shopping-related searches, I guess you could say Walmart competes against the Google Shopping tab I mentioned previously.
Whether Walmart uses its AI-powered search tech for purposes other than shopping, though, remains to be seen. It would definitely be a bit odd to “Walmart search” something non-shopping-related instead of Googling, though. In any case, CEO Doug McMillon’s enthusiasm for generative AI search is hard to ignore.
My take? Walmart doesn’t have much to lose by trying to expand its search capabilities with an AI search engine. Such a service would be a great new perk to a Walmart+ membership.
On the date of publication, Joey Frenette held shares of Microsoft, Amazon and Alphabet (Class C). The opinions expressed in this article are those of the writer, subject to the InvestorPlace.com Publishing Guidelines.
