Will Search Engine Traffic Really Drop 25% by 2026, As Gartner Predicts? Late last month, Gartner made a stunning prediction, forecasting an imminent and dramatic decline in search engine traffic. “By 2026, traditional search engine volume will drop 25%,” the research firm said. “with search marketing losing market share to AI chatbots and other virtual agents.”

The prediction seemed aggressive, especially given that Microsoft Bing — with its AI chatbot — hadn’t gained much share at all in a hype-filled 2023. If it comes true, it would be an earth shaking moment in the tech world, leading to chaos within Google and the web.

Who will build new search engines for new personal AI agents? We’re going to end up running personal AI agents to do tasks for us. The actual issue here is how exactly to make them personalised. Ultimately this is where new search engines come in

Google starts testing AI overviews from SGE in main Google search interface: Some users who do not opt in to the Google Search labs Search Generative Experience (SGE) feature may see AI overview answers in the search results.

Google’s AI-powered search results are loaded with spammy, scammy garbage: Be careful where you click