The Fight to Be Number One Between Amazon and Google: Who is Going to Come Out on Top?

As of right now, a full 93% of online experiences begin with a search engine. However, that statistic may change if Amazon has anything to do with it.

According to a new study by the marketing company BloomReach, over half of Americans head to Amazon to carry out their first search for products, choosing the online marketplace over the popular search engine Google.

The numbers are shocking. Of those surveyed, 55% made their first search on Amazon, up from 44% a year ago. Additionally, those who chose search engines represented 27%, down from 34% in 2015. Not only that, but retailers saw a decline as their overall searches dropped to 16% from 21%.

While these numbers just show how Amazon is coming to dominate the nation’s online shopping habits, this is bad news for Google. A core detail of Google’s business is the search engine, as the company gains a majority of its revenue from its Google Ad program. This is where Google places lucrative ads at the top of every search engine page in hopes that the consumer will click and go to the client’s webpage. The client pays Google a premium for this service and is responsible for making Google a profitable business.

That’s not to say that Google isn’t developing new programs in hopes of bringing in revenue from different markets. With Google Play purchases and multiple different apps available to mobile users, Google continues to stay competitive in an everchanging global market.

However, even though these numbers give Amazon an advantage, it still does not guarantee consumers will actually buy from their site. Instead, they’re often comparing and researching products on search engines and other retailers,” BloomReach head of Marketing Jason Seeba said in a statement to Business Insider.