The evolution of search on the open web for advertisers in 2025 and beyond is predicted to be significantly different from how it has been for the past decade. Over 25 years ago, the advent of search engines revolutionized the digital world, with Google leading the charge. Founded in 1998 by Larry Page and his Stanford colleagues, Google’s superior search algorithms and the invention of pay-per-click (PPC) advertising allowed it to dominate the search advertising market.
Google’s success grew in the mid-2000s as it expanded its digital advertising empire with the acquisitions of YouTube for video ads and Doubleclick for display ads. However, this growth came at the cost of news and editorial publications, which lost significant revenue when they transitioned from analog to digital. To continue its growth and maintain its market control, Google raised its ad rates and converted more search real estate into billable clicks.
Over the past decade, Google has successfully grown its revenue 5x, and its parent company Alphabet’s enterprise value increased 5x, leaving users and advertisers as the losers due to a lack of transparency and control over their search advertising budgets. However, the search market is not limited to Google, as 60% of consumer searches begin on