Apple has reportedly stepped up efforts on its own search engine. In a report by the Financial Times, Apple has started to show search results and link directly to websites when users type queries from its home screen. This was revealed in the latest version of iOS 14.
“In a little-noticed change to the latest version of the iPhone operating system, iOS 14, Apple has begun to show its own search results and link directly to websites when users type queries from its home screen.”
Financial Times
For the longest time, Google had been paying Apple between US$10 and US$12 billion per year to be Apple’s main search provider. To put that number into perspective, Google paid Apple just under US$10 billion in 2018 according to Goldman Sachs and that amounted to 20% of Apple’s Services revenue.
The deal has been complicated by the antitrust regulators who have made it a talking point. The arrangement between Google and Apple is seen as anti-competition.
If Apple is barred from renewing the deal and it advances with its own search engine, then it will mean two very large and established companies going head to head. That doesn’t really do much for competition because users will still be dealing with the same familiar names. Smaller companies will still be as marginal as they are now.
Nevertheless, It will be interesting to see what shape and form Apple’s search engine when it is fully developed.
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