SMBs Shift Towards AI-Integrated Search Tools
Written by Emily J. Thompson, Senior Investment Analyst
Updated: Mar 22 2026
0mins
Should l Buy GOOG?
Source: Yahoo Finance
- Surge in AI Adoption: A Morgan Stanley survey reveals that small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) are increasingly adopting AI-integrated search tools, with Alphabet's Search and AI Overviews outperforming rivals in utility and growth, indicating a rising demand for efficient advertising platforms.
- Budget Reallocation: While Meta remains a dominant player in digital advertising, the survey indicates a modest year-over-year decline in usage, reflecting a shift in SMBs' budget allocations towards generative AI-led discovery tools, which could impact Meta's market share.
- Generative AI Experimentation: SMBs show strong interest in testing OpenAI's ChatGPT ad products, signaling a fundamental shift in the competitive dynamics for legacy social media giants as the demand for generative text and video creation grows, pushing the advertising sector into a phase of rapid experimentation.
- Utility Shift in Platforms: The survey results highlight a transition where the functional performance of AI-enhanced search is beginning to outweigh the broad reach of traditional social media, with Google's AI Overviews gaining traction by improving lead quality and relevance, suggesting future ad budgets may increasingly flow to high-intent platforms.
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Analyst Views on GOOG
Wall Street analysts forecast GOOG stock price to rise
15 Analyst Rating
14 Buy
1 Hold
0 Sell
Strong Buy
Current: 294.900
Low
255.00
Averages
336.08
High
400.00
Current: 294.900
Low
255.00
Averages
336.08
High
400.00
About GOOG
Alphabet Inc. is a holding company. The Company's segments include Google Services, Google Cloud, and Other Bets. The Google Services segment includes products and services such as ads, Android, Chrome, devices, Google Maps, Google Play, Search, and YouTube. The Google Cloud segment includes infrastructure and platform services, collaboration tools, and other services for enterprise customers. Its Other Bets segment is engaged in the sale of healthcare-related services and Internet services. Its Google Cloud provides enterprise-ready cloud services, including Google Cloud Platform and Google Workspace. Google Cloud Platform provides access to solutions such as artificial intelligence (AI) offerings, including its AI infrastructure, Vertex AI platform, and Gemini for Google Cloud; cybersecurity, and data and analytics. Google Workspace includes cloud-based communication and collaboration tools for enterprises, such as Calendar, Gmail, Docs, Drive, and Meet.
About the author
Emily J. Thompson
Emily J. Thompson, a Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) with 12 years in investment research, graduated with honors from the Wharton School. Specializing in industrial and technology stocks, she provides in-depth analysis for Intellectia’s earnings and market brief reports.
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