Google Pushes Back On 'AI Hurting Search' Testimony
- by Laurie Sullivan @lauriesullivan, May 8, 2025
Google's search business could change forever based on the outcome of an antitrust trial expected later this year.
As it continues to try and protect its empire, technology partners are preparing to make other provisions in case the trial remedies pull the company apart.
Eddy Cue, Apple senior vice president of services, testified Wednesday that Google's search traffic has fallen, but Google refutes the claim.
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"We continue to see overall query growth in Search. That includes an increase in total queries coming from Apple’s devices and platforms," the company wrote in a blog post on Thursday. "As we enhance Search with new features, people are seeing that Google Search is more useful for more of their queries — and they’re accessing it for new things and in new ways, whether from browsers or the Google app, using their voice or Google Lens."
Google plans to share more changes with advertisers and marketers later this month at Google I/O.
Cue noted that searches on Safari fell for the first time last month in 22 years. He attributed the dip to people using AI.
Fewer searches mean less advertising revenue for Apple.
Cue expects that OpenAI, Perplexity AI, Anthropic, and other AI engines like Copilot will eventually replace traditional search engines like Google. Apple has had discussions with Perplexity.
Apple expects in the future to add other AI search options in Safari, although they probably will not become the default.
