The Scylla is scale, if you aren't big you can't do search at all, and only a behemoth like Google can do free-form AI assisted questions. The Charybdis is tru

The Scylla is scale, if you aren't big you can't do search at all, and only a behemoth like Google can do free-form AI assisted questions. The Charybdis is trust. You can't monetize search directly, or it becomes a bunch of transparent lies that nobody wants. You can't be a rapacious predator that has already tried to eat the internet several times (sorry, Microsoft). It mattered that early Google said "don't be evil". You have to monetize something else, but weave it into your search so that you aren't bleeding money. Only Google has threaded the needle. It may never happen a second time.