Why 50 Million Users Left Google And The Lesson Founders Can’t Ignore

“just Google it” was the default for every question? It still is, mostly.

But something strange, or expected, is happening. People are quietly leaving Google.

Google’s market share dropped below 90% this year for the first time in nearly a decade.

That might not sound like much, but that tiny dip represents tens of millions of users.

On desktop, the drop is even sharper.

In just two years, Google’s share fell from almost 88% to 79%. That’s the kind of churn that, in a SaaS company, would send the entire exec team into a war room.

And yet, this isn’t about search engines. Not really.

It’s about what happens to any platform, or product, when you forget why people came to you in the first place.

Optimization Isn’t Always Progress

Google didn’t lose users because someone built a better search engine.

They lost them because the experience stopped serving the core need.

You go to search for something simple, a tutorial, a link, a definition.

Instead, you’re hit with ads, an AI summary, video blocks, carousels, “People Also Ask,” and maybe, if you scroll far enough, the actual answer.