Neeva, a search startup founded in 2019 by former top Google ad tech executive Sridhar Ramaswamy (pictured), shared on Saturday in a statement that it will be closing its private search engine due to difficulties.

"It is one thing to build a search engine, and an entirely different thing to convince regular users of the need to switch to a better choice. From the unnecessary friction required to change default search settings, to the challenges in helping people understand the difference between a search engine and a browser, acquiring users has been really hard," it was explained.

Thus, due to such troubles, alongside economic turbulence, neeva.com and its consumer search product will be shut down on June 2. The company now plans to shift its focus to use cases for generative artificial intelligence (AI) and large language models in search.