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> It is hard to believe that this payment is just for being the default search engine. I strongly suspect that Apple also agrees to not build their own search e

> It is hard to believe that this payment is just for being the default search engine. I strongly suspect that Apple also agrees to not build their own search engine as long as this deal is on In practical terms, if Apple launched a search engine that wasn’t the default, would it see much uptake? It seems to me that Google don’t need an agreement for that.

pdpi 5y ago
This is Apple we’re talking about. That search engine would be a skunkworks project for several years and rapidly become the default soon after release. Presumably, what Google gets out of this is the assurance that no such skunkworks project exists.
- littlecranky67 5y ago
  I'm assuming the agreement would not cover skunkworks projects as this would be clearly deemed anti-competitive (collusion) if that deal ever saw the light of day. Even a deal of not launching a product might be deemed as such. But I assume you can't really launch a search engine without a couple of years of user feedback, i.e. tracking what links get clicked and which not, to influence the ranking. And that would require an official launch from Apple, which would probably result in Google to terminate the agreement immediately on launch (even if it is not made the default search engine). So even without written/verbal agreement in that field, Apple knows that the minute they publicly launch a search engine, the deal is off. I think such a deal would fall into the tacit collusion category [0]. [0]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tacit_collusion https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tacit_collusion
  - treis 5y ago
    The FAANGs did obviously illegal collision on hiring before. Don't see why they wouldn't do so on other stuff. Probably have learned their lesson to not E-mail about it too.
threeseed 5y ago
Apple has a search engine. It powers Safari Suggestions, Siri etc and it is enabled by default. I imagine close to ~95% of all iOS/OSX searches would likely be hitting those services if you look at the way the UI is implemented.
littlecranky67 5y ago
No, but building a search engine doesn't happen overnight. They could launch it, and after 2-3 years of user feedback and testing, make the default configuration switch and cancelling the contract with Google.

pdpi 5y ago

This is Apple we’re talking about. That search engine would be a skunkworks project for several years and rapidly become the default soon after release. Presumably, what Google gets out of this is the assurance that no such skunkworks project exists.

littlecranky67 5y ago
I'm assuming the agreement would not cover skunkworks projects as this would be clearly deemed anti-competitive (collusion) if that deal ever saw the light of day. Even a deal of not launching a product might be deemed as such. But I assume you can't really launch a search engine without a couple of years of user feedback, i.e. tracking what links get clicked and which not, to influence the ranking. And that would require an official launch from Apple, which would probably result in Google to terminate the agreement immediately on launch (even if it is not made the default search engine). So even without written/verbal agreement in that field, Apple knows that the minute they publicly launch a search engine, the deal is off. I think such a deal would fall into the tacit collusion category [0]. [0]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tacit_collusion https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tacit_collusion
- treis 5y ago
  The FAANGs did obviously illegal collision on hiring before. Don't see why they wouldn't do so on other stuff. Probably have learned their lesson to not E-mail about it too.

threeseed 5y ago

Apple has a search engine. It powers Safari Suggestions, Siri etc and it is enabled by default. I imagine close to ~95% of all iOS/OSX searches would likely be hitting those services if you look at the way the UI is implemented.

littlecranky67 5y ago

No, but building a search engine doesn't happen overnight. They could launch it, and after 2-3 years of user feedback and testing, make the default configuration switch and cancelling the contract with Google.