Google is reportedly working on a chat-based search engine to rival Facebook's M.
The mobile Internet experience is
vastly different from accessing the web on a desktop computer. People
use apps instead of a browser, and that means the companies that own the
most popular apps are at a significant advantage. According to Nielsen,
Facebook (NASDAQ:FB)
and Google own all eight of the most popular apps in the United States.
But Facebook likely dominates total engagement compared to the Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) (NASDAQ:GOOGL) company. Facebook management says its apps account for 20% of time spent on mobile.
Now, Facebook is encroaching on Google's territory, offering improved
search functionality in its flagship app, and experimenting with search
in Messenger, which has 700 million global users. Google is reportedly
responding to Facebook's efforts with a messaging app of its own
featuring a chat-powered search engine.
Can Google stop Facebook?
Google's planned mobile
messaging app sounds like a direct response to Facebook's M. M is an
AI-powered virtual assistant that can do anything from answer simple
search queries to book travel accommodations. It's still limited to
select users in the Bay area, but it represents yet another example of
using Messenger as a platform.
As M rolls out to more users, Google could find itself losing out on
search queries. The planned messaging app is aimed to prevent such an
occurrence. But Google is missing out on the step that enabled Facebook
to threaten Google's cash cow in the first place.
Google needs to build a network. People use a messaging app because
all of their friends already use it. The network effect is quite
apparent in the regional dominance of chat apps like WhatsApp,
Messenger, WeChat, Line, and KakaoTalk.
Building a messaging service around several AI-powered chatbots is
unlikely to draw the critical mass necessary to make a messaging app
succeed. Google has failed to properly grow social networks in the past
(see Google+), and its existing messaging apps, Hangouts and Messenger,
have failed to attract a significant audience. Adding chatbots that
answer simple searches won't change that.
What Google could do instead
Google is certainly
capable of rivaling Facebook when it comes to artificial intelligence.
Last year, Google hired Geoffrey Hinton, one of the world's foremost
researchers of deep learning neural networks, to help it design new AI
algorithms. The move came just after Facebook hired NYU professor Yann
LeCun to head up its AI research lab.
But, as mentioned, Google is missing the network. So, why not launch a
chatbot on Facebook's platform? Facebook opened Messenger to
third-party developers in March, enabling users to insert pictures,
videos, and other media from other apps. Google could develop its
AI-powered chatbot for Messenger.
Google has had no qualms developing software for platforms owned by
competitors. It has dozens of apps for iOS, for example. But developing
for Facebook's platform might not be in Google's best interest, as it
cedes control and provides data to a company that uses the same
monetization model as itself. Thus, Google is left to its own devices to
create an app that people will use -- and use to search.
Mobile search growth
Earlier this year, Google
announced it receives more searches on smartphones than it does on
desktops. To be sure, the number of queries on mobile devices continues
to rise, and those queries are largely Google's to lose. Facebook's M
and its flagship app's search capabilities represent real threats, but
development remains slow and limited. Google has time to figure out how
to compete with Facebook to maintain its share of the mobile search
market as it continues to grow.
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