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My question is, would Apple default to different search engine if they weren't getting paid? Given Google's utter dominance in search, it would likely be seen a
by nkingsy 8y ago
My question is, would Apple default to different search engine if they weren't getting paid? Given Google's utter dominance in search, it would likely be seen as anti-user behavior to default to something else.
This one and the fact that Microsoft takes all the licensing revenue from Android seem to bubble up every few months. Head-scratching stuff from companies playing on levels of scale where strange things start to make sense.
- e1ven 8y agoApple had previously used Bing as the default search in certain areas, such as Siri and the Search bar.
- wlesieutre 8y agoBut did they switch because they could get more money from Google, because they could give users better search results with Google, or because they didn't want to confuse users who google things and get confused that the google is broken and says bing instead?
- wolco 8y agoMoney. Google offered the same or better experience when bing was the default.
- Despegar 8y agoIf they weren't getting paid they'd just switch to Bing or DuckDuckGo. As much as Google might like to believe that people will specifically seek them out because they are a better product, search is a utility and most people will be fine with Bing/DuckDuckGo. We know this exactly because Google pays TAC.
- glbrew 8y agoI agree in general but if 1.4 billion devices simultaneously started using duckduckgo their servers would melt through the mantle and merge with the inner core.
- onetimemanytime 8y agoIf done in a heartbeat. But they'd probably even get funds from Apple to scale.
- bduerst 8y agoSo from +$9B to what? -$100M? Apple would definitely go to Microsoft to get payment for pushing traffic to their MSN network instead.
- max76 8y agoGoogle's market share is slightly more than 3/4 of all search [0]. They have a strong majority of all searches, and they dominant some submarkets of search, but they are far from total market dominance. https://www.netmarketshare.com/search-engine-market-share.aspx?options=%7B%22filter%22%3A%7B%7D%2C%22dateLabel%22%3A%22Trend%22%2C%22attributes%22%3A%22share%22%2C%22group%22%3A%22searchEngine%22%2C%22sort%22%3A%7B%22share%22%3A-1%7D%2C%22id%22%3A%22searchEnginesDesktop%22%2C%22dateInterval%22%3A%22Monthly%22%2C%22dateStart%22%3A%222018-02%22%2C%22dateEnd%22%3A%222019-01%22%2C%22segments%22%3A%22-1000%22%7D https://www.netmarketshare.com/search-engine-market-share.as...
- duderific 8y agoI feel like 3/4 is pretty much dominance. If Ford sold 3/4 of all cars purchased in America, I think you'd say they were dominating the automobile market.
- max76 8y agoIt's a good position, but it's far from a monopoly most people treat it as.
- fauigerzigerk 8y agoGoogle's market share is somewhere between 88% and 98% almost everywhere outside of China and Russia. These are pretty significant "submarkets". http://gs.statcounter.com/search-engine-market-share http://gs.statcounter.com/search-engine-market-share But I think what these statistics do not reflect is the growing share of Amazon in product search.
- solarkraft 8y agoI think Apple has the power to establish a competitor - After all most searches are simple and DuckDuckGo well satisfies those. I stil seek out Google every once in a while, but how many users will go through the trouble to change the default, especially when you have !g?. My next question is even if they do lose on search, with all their very successful "side" businesses, how much would it impact them at this point?
- zozbot123 8y agoGoogle is actually pretty well optimized for the simplest, most mindless searches. It sucks for anything complex, though - Bing/DDG is a lot better there.
- nkingsy 8y agoI think mindless and complex might not be the right words to use here. I find google searching to be similar to writing. If I distill the question down to the crucial elements and use clear english, I get great results. If I throw all the elements of my question in and hope for the best, I usually am disappointed.
- max76 8y ago> My next question is even if they do lose on search, with all their very successful "side" businesses, how much would it impact them at this point? Are you talking about Apple or Google? If Apple launches a search engine that fails it'll have huge brand image implications. Their brand is their most valuable asset. If Google Search were to fail then Google would lose the majority of their revenue. Sure, they could continue, but they probably would not be considered part of the Big Four anymore.
- threeseed 8y agoApple already has a search engine. You will see Siri Suggested websites coming up before Google’s results.
- Veelox 8y agoIf they could not receive any kind of payment or kickback from any company I would give it a 70% chance they pick Google. As it stands, Apple knows that it can charge Google and Google knows its worth paying so they stay in the mutually beneficial relationship.