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OpenAI consumer product lead Adam Fry said at a Monday press event that ChatGPT's search query volume has reached roughly 20 percent of Google's. Fry defined a search as any query triggering a web search, excluding simple definitions or how-to answers, and did not disclose the source of the Google comparison figure.
Reddit is piloting a new ad format that places sponsored content directly inside search results, matched to the relevance of a user's query. For example, searching for an espresso station or a home office setup could surface ads for related products like coffee machines or desks. The company says it is starting with a limited group of advertisers.
Google told The New York Times that K-12 schools which opt out of its Gemini AI tools will also lose access to Google Search entirely, unless administrators explicitly turn the features on. The change was detailed in a Tuesday education update, where Google said Gemini, Gemini Notebook, Gemini in Classroom, and Search will all be off by default and bundled together as a single setting.
Google told the New York Times it will disable Google Search for school accounts that choose to ban AI features entirely, because the company has tied Search and its Gemini AI/AI Overviews products together. Google education VP Chris Phillips said students at such schools would instead see a message saying search is unavailable.
A new Show HN project called HackerTV streams a continuous, synchronized broadcast of YouTube videos that have been frequently recommended in Hacker News comments, so every viewer sees the same program at the same time. The catalog is seeded from the HackerTube dataset and refreshed weekly using the HN Search API, with Claude used to label and filter entries, though video durations are estimates until YouTube metadata loads.
Microsoft's new Insider Experimental Preview Build (26340.9843) allows users to type an app's name into Windows 11's taskbar Search and launch it directly on a connected Android phone, mirroring it on the PC via Phone Link. The same build adds the ability to call, text, or trigger phone actions like Do Not Disturb from Search, currently for Android with iPhone support promised early next year. The feature works with select phones from Samsung, HONOR, OPPO, ASUS, vivo, Xiaomi, iQOO, and Realme.
Searching Google for "Zelda" or "Ocarina of Time" now triggers an animation leading to a retro version of the search results page styled like 1998, complete with blue hyperlinks and the old "I'm Feeling Lucky" button, timed to Nintendo's Ocarina of Time remake launch. The effect only applies to game-related searches and reverts to Google's current results page, including AI Overviews, for anything else.
AI assistants such as Claude, ChatGPT and Gemini now search the web on users' behalf, combining live search results with knowledge stored in their training data before presenting a polished, generative-style answer. The reliability of these answers varies: well-documented facts are usually returned correctly, while obscure queries with limited online references are more prone to errors.
Meta's advertising revenue rose 26% year-over-year to $63.1 billion in the third quarter, compared with 12% growth to $63.4 billion for Google's Search division. The 14-point gap is the widest in Meta's favor since 2021, as Meta scales AI-driven ad targeting on Facebook and Instagram while Google faces competition from chatbots like ChatGPT, Claude and its own Muse.
Three young hikers on Mount Shasta had to be rescued after planning their climb with help from Google's Gemini chatbot, leading to poor preparation and a dangerous overnight descent. Forest Service officials cited other incidents, including a woman camping illegally based on AI advice and a hiker with an inaccurate AI-generated map, while a teen in British Columbia was also rescued after using Anthropic's Claude to plan a trip.
An Entrepreneur contributor opinion piece argues that marketers who copy the channels, messaging and metrics of category leaders are choosing a slow path to irrelevance rather than a safe one. The author cites early advocacy for distinct mobile app marketing strategies in 2013 as an example of moving ahead of consensus, and points to AI answer systems as a new space brands should claim before it becomes crowded.
Reddit's stock dropped 29.22% on Friday, its steepest single-day fall since going public in 2024, after the company reported weaker-than-expected quarterly sales growth and issued a soft sales forecast. CEO Steve Huffman said search-referral traffic from Google declined 'meaningfully' this quarter due to AI Overviews, and the company is moving toward requiring logins for previously open access.