Perplexity Can it threaten Google's supremacy in Web search?

For more than two decades, Google has remained the predominant search engine on the Internet, capturing more than 90% of the global market share in the search engine sector. This impressive dominance has left little room for significant competitors so far. Updated market share information can be found at StatCounter Global Stats.

Source: StatCounter Global Stats - Search Engine Market Share

What is Perplexity?

Perplexity AI is a revolutionary startup poised to challenge the status quo with its artificial intelligence-powered search engine. Unlike traditional engines, Perplexity AI relies on generative AI to provide direct answers to user queries rather than a list of links. This approach promises a more intuitive and efficient search experience.

What is its architecture?

Perplexity AI uses advanced technologies such as machine learning and Natural Language Processing to understand and respond to user queries. It is built on the GPT-4 architecture developed by OpenAI, which allows it to provide accurate responses and mimic the user’s brand voice. Perplexity AI continuously learns and improves by analyzing the user’s previous content and adapting to the user’s writing style. Users can access Perplexity AI for free from their website and enter their query in the search bar to start the search.

Who is behind this project?

Perplexity AI’s vision is backed by a team of technology experts and major investors, including Jeff Bezos. This amalgam of technology expertise and financial strength places Perplexity AI uniquely positioned to accomplish its ambitious mission.

Competitive strategies

Perplexity AI implements a multifaceted strategy to compete with Google’s dominance. By focusing on generative AI, it seeks to deliver a superior user experience with direct and accurate responses. In addition, its focus on a clean, minimalist interface is designed to solve the problem of cognitive overload presented by other search engines.

Impact of Generative AI

According to Perplexity AI, the shift toward generative AI represents a paradigm shift in search technologies. This approach allows us to better understand users’ search intentions and provide targeted responses rather than generic links. This breakthrough could revolutionize how we interact with information online.

Key Differences in User Interface and Search Experience:

Unlike Google, which has maintained a relatively static interface over the years, Perplexity AI uses a clean and uncluttered user interface. This simplicity minimizes distractions and makes online searching more efficient and enjoyable.

I recommend that you try the Perplexity interface, and you can evaluate the results it returns for yourself. I was surprised by its context on concrete questions, links to related information sources, and new content suggestions related to the search performed. It reminds me of the searches on GPT4 but with a much improved search-oriented output.

Check out this exciting video from CNBC commenting on this new company.

Is Perplexity just a search engine?

In addition to web search, Perplexity AI offers a wide range of products to help with content creation, optimization, and editing. It also provides a “Focus” mode for results in academic sources and the ability to analyze PDF documents.

There is already an extension for, e.g., Brave, that allows you to install Perplexity on it, although it cannot be chosen as the default search engine for the moment.

We will be watching the evolution of this new system to see if it achieves wide user adoption. In 2023, it handled about 500 million queries, a pittance compared to Google’s 99,000 searches per second, which translates to approximately 8.5 billion searches per day….

I hope you found this content interesting
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