The future of search: How the rise of AI browsers can benefit the open internet

Web 4.0. Google Zero. Agentic web. Browser wars. Clickless search.

These are just a few of the buzzwords circulating in tech circles. No matter what you call it, experts say the internet will soon look much different than it does today. And with it, the way digital advertising and media has operated when it comes to search, thanks to the rise of AI-powered browsers.

And the competition is heating up.

OpenAI has unleased Atlas, its long-awaited web browser, powered by ChatGPT, now attracting 800 million weekly active users, up from 500 million weekly users in July. Two days later, Microsoft followed up with relaunching with new features.

It was over the summer when the ‘browser wars’ really began to kick off with Perplexity introducing Comet, which became free to use this month, and The Browser Company launching the AI browser Dia. Opera’s Aria was one of the first to launch in 2023.

All this brings fresh competition to the reigning champ of search: Google. Its Chrome browser remains the dominant browser used by 63.6% of internet users worldwide and accounts for nearly three-quarters of parent company Alphabet’s revenue.

But the tide is turning.

“The model has to change,” Jesse Dwyer, head of communications at Perplexity, tells The Current. “Google’s business model has been to put a tollbooth in the driveway of every business on earth and just raise the prices every year. It’s not a sustainable model, and the only people benefiting from it are Google.”

That critique is resonating across the industry, as many see this moment as a fundamental challenge to Google’s grip on data and discovery.

“This is a direct assault on Google’s data empire,” Shelly Palmer, professor of advanced media in residence at S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications, wrote on LinkedIn.

Counterintuitive it may seem, this browser shake-up could be a healthy phase for the open internet, fueling more competition and opportunity for both brands and publishers.

“AI browsers, in theory, have the potential to revive the open internet by improving discoverability and making it easier for users to navigate the vast, decentralized web,” Anthony Katsur, CEO of IAB Tech Lab, told The Current.

“By summarizing and contextualizing content from a broader range of sources — not just the handful of platforms dominating traditional search and social feeds — AI browsers could help resurface quality journalism, expert blogs and niche voices that have been drowned out in algorithmic echo chambers.”

Competition fuels efficiency

This level of competition could force Google to fight for the brand and publisher relationships it once took for granted, experts say. Two federal courts have already ruled that Google holds an unlawful monopoly in search and two ad tech product markets, with remedies soon to come. OpenAI, which once showed an interest in acquiring Chrome, has taken a heads-on approach instead.

“The timing is perfect,” Palmer wrote.

Google hasn’t been idle — but suddenly it’s playing catch-up, said Chris Long, previously VP of marketing at digital agency Go Fish Digital, who has advised for brands like Geico, Adobe and Business Insider.

In September, Google rolled out Gemini for Chrome, and will continue to roll out “agentic capabilities” like booking appointments or making purchases. The tech giant continues to pour resources into AI integration, from its AI Overviews in Search and an “AI Mode” button to its home page. Apple, meanwhile, has also added AI capabilities to Safari.

The heat from this competition is already having an impact. In July, Google announced its seeking licensing talks with news groups for AI projects, a possible sign that Google is becoming more open to working with publishers. By contrast, its new competitors — Perplexity and OpenAI — pay publishers for use of their content and share in revenue through licensing deals. These types of deals could be a bright spot to publishers — which are otherwise seeing web traffic decline rapidly. A recent State of the Bots report found that publishers saw 7 times the clickthrough rate when their content is surfaced through LLMs.

Perplexity and AI leader ChatGPT are still far from reaching Google’s search volume. OpenAI told Axios that users send 2.5 billion prompts a day. Meanwhile, Google sees nearly 14 billion searches a day.

The DOJ has argued the company might leverage its AI tools to further entrench its dominance in online search — and tap into its vast search index data to take the lead in the AI race. After all, it already has the fundamental tools in place and the user base to do so.

"This court's remedy should be forward-looking and not ignore what is on the horizon,” David Dahlquist, the acting deputy director of the DOJ's antitrust civil litigation division said in April.

Either way, Perplexity isn’t shying away from its position as an underdog challenger.

“The truth is, we’re the only company in history that has had the guts as a startup to try and take on Google,” Dwyer said.

As a Vice headline put it: “Perplexity’s AI-powered Comet is here to make the dinosaur Chrome extinct.”

“AI browsers are going to be a huge threat to Google’s user data,” Long tells The Current. “Google for so long has just basically been a complete monopoly,” Long said. “It’s proven out in the courts. OpenAI finally does at least give them another technology, another information discovery system to benchmark against.”

The new gateway to the internet

AI browsers aren’t just pointing users to content — they’re bringing the content straight to them, bypassing SEO-heavy webpages and traditional hyperlinks. Ask ChatGPT to plan a week in Italy, and it can plan an itinerary in seconds.

Young users, in particular, are flocking to use these tools. They expect fast, intuitive answers — and they aren’t loyal to legacy platforms.

“Young people are growing up with a chat-based interface,” said Debra Aho Williamson, founder of Sonata Insights. “You see young people start to gravitate toward something; it makes sense for the broader media and marketing industry to adopt it.”

As clicks decline, success for brands and publishers will depend less on traffic and more on relevance and discoverability within these AI ecosystems. Ads are already following suit — just look at Walmart’s new partnership with OpenAI turning ChatGPT into a shopping channel, and the ads in Google’s AI Overviews.

“We’re in the typical tech startup phase: acquire users, create value, own the market. The next phase is monetization,” said Dan Gardner, co-founder of digital agency Code and Theory. “Advertising always finds attention, and as these new ecosystems grow, ads will naturally follow.”

The Current is owned and operated by The Trade Desk Inc.