4 ms·
Apple has to be mulling an entry into search. Apple Search would be the default search engine for iPhone users, the majority of whom conduct almost all searches
by keenmaster 7y ago
Apple has to be mulling an entry into search. Apple Search would be the default search engine for iPhone users, the majority of whom conduct almost all searches on their phone.
Being the one aggregator to rule them all has so many advantages. Google can extract outsized profits from almost every single industry because people are too myopic/lazy/indifferent to go directly to the source.
Apple could change the game. It could use its war chest to build a search engine as good or better than Google. It would forsake some profit because Apple Search would, through deep iOS integration, improvement of Siri, and bolstering of upcoming AR offerings, create ever greater lock-in to the Apple ecosystem. Furthermore, Apple's entry would give bargaining power back to content providers, galvanizing content creation on the margins.
There is an iron rule in business: competition will eventually erode profits. It's not a matter of if, but when. Will it be in 5 years, 10, 30, or 50?. GE used to be a seemingly unflappable industrial powerhouse. Look at it now. Google can stay way ahead of the competition if it continues to leapfrog on AI, but as soon as it becomes more iterative, or if the government decides that it's a monopoly, its decline would be non-linear. Apple faces another dilemma with a similar outcome. If some technological shift or government intervention opens up the App Store and iMessage to all mobile hardware, profits would drop precipitously. The only antidote is massive R&D and innovation.
- ninkendo 7y agoApple already has a search engine. Swipe down on the home screen and type some stuff, and you get “Siri suggested websites”. It also answers basic questions and gives previews of relevant parts of the sites.
- keenmaster 7y agoI meant whole-internet search, not local device search (Spotlight) and Siri suggestions.
- ninkendo 7y agoIt does whole-internet search. Give it a try!
- keenmaster 7y agoI don't think so. It pulls results from other search engines, including Google.
- ninkendo 7y ago"Siri suggested websites" (the thing I mentioned in my first post) are not from other search engines, they're from Apple's. Same goes for the "Siri suggested website" when you type some terms into Safari. The top website on the autocomplete list is selected by Apple's search engine.
- keenmaster 7y agoAh, my apologies for the misunderstanding. I was not aware of this. My point still stands, since relatively few people treat Spotlight as a discrete search engine. Its layout and features are not conducive to anything but the most elementary research. Moreover, it is not accessible through web browsers.
- ninkendo 7y agoYeah, my post was definitely intended in a sort of "it's crazy but it's true" way, because yeah, Apple has gone through insane amounts of engineering effort to create a working search engine that crawls the entire web and does a decent job of selecting top websites, but you can't use it anywhere except in a few chosen UI elements inside iOS/macOS. The whole thing is hidden in plain sight.
- keenmaster 7y agoThe fact that they went through all that trouble makes me even more convinced that they're considering a bigger entry into search. They're dipping their toes in the water.