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Search is changing. You won’t hear Google talking heads talk about it very much because the types of things that are happening will fundamentally change the model the search engine giant has used to build its search and ad infrastructure. Sridhar Ramaswamy knows; he’s the man who led teams inside Google to build the ad technology that exists today. This conversation pulls back the curtain on what is happening in the search industry, how large language models and the use of A.I. will change everything in the next few years, and explore why Sridhar and his co-founder believe that Neeva, their new consumer-focused search engine based on A.I. is the first step in that direction.

But we also talk about Sridhar’s experience with Google and the terrible things that can happen when a company becomes a monopoly that is as large as the government. His insights into how massive profits decrease the motivation to be truly innovative, how the service of the public good takes a back seat to profitability, and the undue influence such a large company can have on policy and legislation, are worth hearing.

You will want to hear this episode if you are interested in...

• How Sridhar landed a job at Google by desiring to talk to nobody and drink coffee [0:06]
• The Google business model’s simple success and its current challenges [4:35]
• The trade offs Google has taken to get to its current predicament [10:37]
• Sridhar’s tenure at and path out of Google because it was too successful [17:12]
• The road to starting a new search engine to take on Google: Neeva [24:41]
• X-ray vision for the internet: A.I. Generative Search [30:35]
• How Neeva is approaching search and its future [35:45]
• The humbling path of being a startup founder after such success at Google [41:06]
• Large language models and the future of fluid, conversational search [45:11]

Resources & People Mentioned

• BOOK: Attention Merchants

Connect with Sridhar Ramaswamy

• Learn more about Neeva
• Follow Sridhar on LinkedIn
• Follow Sridhar on Twitter

Connect With Om Malik

• Follow Om on LinkedIn

Audio Production and Show Notes by
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