Marketers are not won over by new AI-powered search tools

The conversation around search advertising has reached a new fever pitch thanks to recently launched AI-powered tools like Perplexity and Google’s AI Overviews. Despite the buzz, some marketers and advertisers remain uncertain about AI tools in search, citing too many unknowns. That said, some are unwilling to be first movers until these tools are proven effective in terms of reach and return on ad spend.

Search has seen recent, renewed interest with new entrants like TikTok’s and (maybe) Reddit shaping up in the shadow of Google’s dominance. A federal judge ruled in August that the tech behemoth monopolized the search advertising marketplace. More recently, the DOJ is in the midst of another trial against Google’s ad tech. While the ad tech antitrust case is underway, competitors have released new ad tools (some of which incorporate AI), but ad dollars have yet to start flowing.

All said, the DOJ isn’t the only one challenging Google’s dominance. There are more competitors, including TikTok’s new search offering, Perplexity AI search engine and Microsoft’s latest ad tools for Copilot, Bing and Edge. Still, it’s to be determined if any of these will successfully put a dent in Google’s search dominance, even with the temptation of AI-powered search.

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