This isn't about search, it's about how Google abuses the profits they get from search. You're not supposed to leverage a monopoly in one area into others. It's near impossible to compete with such companies.
I can't imagine any sane person would say that Google's search itself is a problem.
It was the same problem with MSFT when they tried to leverage their monopoly in OS into browsers, apps.
It is about search and btw companies take their profits and expand their portfolios if it wasn't like that Apple would still be doing PCs and Iphone wouldn't exist.
There are still other search engines and were many more prior to "google" becoming a verb. They won over those because their search results were faster/better. Yet there is no barrier to entry in websearch. As seen with DDG, some people value privacy higher so they have a niche.
I think the real reason why nobody really tries to compete is not upfront money or techinical issues, but that nobody can think of a way to monetize successfully while attractively differentiating themselves from google search.
I can't imagine any sane person would say that Google's search itself is a problem.
It was the same problem with MSFT when they tried to leverage their monopoly in OS into browsers, apps.