8 ms·

Well, Google is the best search engine, and Apple wants the best user experience. This has the feel of getting paid $15b to do something you were going to do an

Well, Google is the best search engine, and Apple wants the best user experience. This has the feel of getting paid $15b to do something you were going to do anyways.

funnyThing7 5y ago
Makes me wonder why they have to pay 15b in the first place. If it’s indeed a no-brainer for apple, the deal could be made with far less money?
- tnzm 5y ago
  I'd imagine with $15B Apple could bootstrap its own search engine.
  - julienfr112 5y ago
    There are getting 15B to NOT boostrap their search engine. If they bootstrap their own engine, they loose 15B on top of having to pay to build this own engine.
    - tnzm 5y ago
      Exactly. Plenty of risks involved - they could just fail like Microsoft did, or if they pull it off it could seriously upset the balance in the ecosystem. Better reach a mutually beneficial agreement with everyone's "favorite" search company instead. Coopetition lol
      - deleted 5y ago
        [deleted]
  - JiNCMG 5y ago
    Not worth it. It's not cheap maintaining a search engine. Apple could throw resources at it but what is the benefit? This is different than the Maps issue where Google refuse to provide new features for iPhone Maps. Apple used OpenStreetMaps (OSM) and created their own. By using OSM, it gave that project more visibility and others an alternative solution to Google Maps. A few years later Google suddenly makes it "not so free" for businesses displaying a map, they better put up a credit card.
theklub 5y ago
Is it the best search engine anymore? Seems like the web is an seo hellhole when I’m looking for real information.
- urthor 5y ago
  It's the best algorithm I would say, but the site itself has quite horrid design these days.
- cdogl 5y ago
  I've encouraged numerous non-technical friends and family members to switch to DuckDuckGo and they've all gone back to Google within a week.
  - iKevinShah 5y ago
    Although my default is DDG and I am technical, but I still find myself heading back to Google in case DDG disappoints. and that happens frequently (although definitely not always)
    - tomerv 5y ago
      That's my experience as well. I'm on DDG for a few months now, and I often resort to using Google when DDG doesn't give me the results I want.
    - maxk42 5y ago
      I had the same problem with DDG. I use Bing now. It may not be as ideal as DDG, but it's not Google and I seldom have difficulty finding what I'm searching for.
  - rchaud 5y ago
    How much of that is down to them missing the familiar look of the Google results page? I wish we could do a blind study where users were asked to use a white-labeled search page where the results are served by Google or Bing (or others), but not disclosed. They would be asked to use that engine exclusively for 3 months, and rank their satisfaction with it. I imagine the results would be similar, but people would still feel a pull towards Google because it's been around for 20 years.
snarf21 5y ago
If Apple popped up a list on install of search engines to pick from, 99% of people would pick Google anyway. Google is mostly afraid they will buy a startup and have their own or make the same deal with M$. At $15B of pure bottom line, it is an easy choice for Apple. We can only stop this with taxes on digital advertising. The tracking companies have become too good at fingerprinting. Even if everything was completely random and anonymized from the iPhone side, the carriers/ISPs can fingerprint you so much easier and they'll never stop (probably not even with regulation).
rchaud 5y ago
Google search is completely gamed, as are Bing and others that rely on the same list of ranking factors. Besides the visual difference between Bing/Google results page, I doubt iPhone users would be able to tell who was serving the results.

Well, Google is the best search engine, and Apple wants the best user experience. This has the feel of getting paid $15b to do something you were going to do anyways.

funnyThing7 5y ago

Makes me wonder why they have to pay 15b in the first place. If it’s indeed a no-brainer for apple, the deal could be made with far less money?

tnzm 5y ago
I'd imagine with $15B Apple could bootstrap its own search engine.
- julienfr112 5y ago
  There are getting 15B to NOT boostrap their search engine. If they bootstrap their own engine, they loose 15B on top of having to pay to build this own engine.
  - tnzm 5y ago
    Exactly. Plenty of risks involved - they could just fail like Microsoft did, or if they pull it off it could seriously upset the balance in the ecosystem. Better reach a mutually beneficial agreement with everyone's "favorite" search company instead. Coopetition lol
    - deleted 5y ago
      [deleted]
- JiNCMG 5y ago
  Not worth it. It's not cheap maintaining a search engine. Apple could throw resources at it but what is the benefit? This is different than the Maps issue where Google refuse to provide new features for iPhone Maps. Apple used OpenStreetMaps (OSM) and created their own. By using OSM, it gave that project more visibility and others an alternative solution to Google Maps. A few years later Google suddenly makes it "not so free" for businesses displaying a map, they better put up a credit card.

theklub 5y ago

Is it the best search engine anymore? Seems like the web is an seo hellhole when I’m looking for real information.

urthor 5y ago
It's the best algorithm I would say, but the site itself has quite horrid design these days.
cdogl 5y ago
I've encouraged numerous non-technical friends and family members to switch to DuckDuckGo and they've all gone back to Google within a week.
- iKevinShah 5y ago
  Although my default is DDG and I am technical, but I still find myself heading back to Google in case DDG disappoints. and that happens frequently (although definitely not always)
  - tomerv 5y ago
    That's my experience as well. I'm on DDG for a few months now, and I often resort to using Google when DDG doesn't give me the results I want.
  - maxk42 5y ago
    I had the same problem with DDG. I use Bing now. It may not be as ideal as DDG, but it's not Google and I seldom have difficulty finding what I'm searching for.
- rchaud 5y ago
  How much of that is down to them missing the familiar look of the Google results page? I wish we could do a blind study where users were asked to use a white-labeled search page where the results are served by Google or Bing (or others), but not disclosed. They would be asked to use that engine exclusively for 3 months, and rank their satisfaction with it. I imagine the results would be similar, but people would still feel a pull towards Google because it's been around for 20 years.

snarf21 5y ago

If Apple popped up a list on install of search engines to pick from, 99% of people would pick Google anyway. Google is mostly afraid they will buy a startup and have their own or make the same deal with M$. At $15B of pure bottom line, it is an easy choice for Apple. We can only stop this with taxes on digital advertising. The tracking companies have become too good at fingerprinting. Even if everything was completely random and anonymized from the iPhone side, the carriers/ISPs can fingerprint you so much easier and they'll never stop (probably not even with regulation).

rchaud 5y ago

Google search is completely gamed, as are Bing and others that rely on the same list of ranking factors. Besides the visual difference between Bing/Google results page, I doubt iPhone users would be able to tell who was serving the results.