[swedonym]

Google is an interesting example.

I'd say brand awareness and being the default entry point to information is probably their strongest "moat" for search. I'd argue that this moat is being eroded in the form of competition from ChatGPT, Claude, Perplexity. Their primary revenue generator (Ads supported search) is being chipped away at by competition and they've had to pivot (LLM based search) to keep up.

I agree, unique data assets allow them to stay ahead of the competition. They are in a much more tenuous position these days though.

For new entrants in these markets, the distance between idea and implementation is getting smaller and smaller at the same time that the big players are doing more land grabs. It's quite an interesting dynamic!