Search unbundling has begun
I came to a realization this week: I hardly use Google anymore.
What started as curiosity (trying Perplexity, asking ChatGPT for summaries) has become my default. Now I find myself reaching for specialized tools without thinking. They're faster, cleaner, and shaped for how I think, not just what I typed.
So naturally, I was curious if it was just me as a bleeding-edge technologist. Nope, it's not:
- Perplexity crossed 10M monthly users.
- Reddit shows up in half of Google searches that include "real."
- 40% of Gen Z uses TikTok as a primary search tool.
Search isn't a monolith anymore. It's splintering fast.
Yes, Google still dominates the long tail. But the high-friction, high-intent stuff is already leaking out. Quietly. Consistently. The search unbundling is happening.
Dev questions? I use Cursor.
New products and ideas? Reddit and Hacker News.
General search and research? Perplexity beats hopping through SEO-choked links.
Search isn't a single destination anymore. It's a behavior powered by LLMs, split across the best tools for the job.
We're watching "search" fracture into jobs to be done. And the best tools don't try to do everything. They just solve your problem, exceptionally well.
They're specialists, not generalists. They don't present the whole internet, just the part you actually needed.
And maybe that's the future:
- Not more results. Better resolution.
- Not better rankings. Better reasoning.
- Not broader coverage. Sharper context.
Google isn't dead. But the gravity has definitely shifted.
The winners of the next decade won't feel like search engines. They'll feel more like tools that think with you, not just wait for input.
