Apple Might Replace Google With Their Own Search Engine.
It's a war of search engining – Google, Microsoft, and possibly Apple.
⏱️ Too lazy to read for 5 minutes? Here’s the TLDR Summary:
Apple is reportedly working on a search engine to replace Google for their customers, according to Bloomberg.
🔁 But it’s not about the best search engine; it’s about a single notion, “Old habits die hard.”
🔍 They’ll have to revolutionize a market to actually take some of Google’s $224 billion ad revenue.
Get out your iPhone and search for a word like “AL Anany,” the iPhone will send you to Google search. Some sources mention that this is part of a secret agreement between Apple and Google.
Nonetheless, Apple has 2 billion active devices being used. Imagine if they simply send you to Bing instead of Google.
Microsoft liked this idea and actually tried to sell Bing to Apple. But it never went through. There’s no argument that whoever dominates search gets a ton of data.
Apple was built with the Steve Jobs’ mentality. That mentality is to “keep our customers in our circle.” He never wanted other manufacturers to be able to access Apple’s computers. He wanted it always to be a closed system, and it actually worked.
Their maintaining the quality led to the iPhone being quite a dominant phone with plenty of recurring customers.
Now, reports (Bloomberg) are showing that Apple has been building a search engine that could replace Google for their devices. But will they actually do that?
Google made $224 billion from ads in 2022. Seriously, take a moment to look at that number.
It’s equivalent to the entire market cap of Alibaba.
It’s double the market cap of American Express.
It’s thirteen times the market cap of Coinbase.
Of course, it’s lucrative that anyone would love to get a piece of this if they could. It’s very scary that the Department of Justice is suing them for “illegally orchestrating its business dealings.”
If a new search engine from Apple pops up as a default search engine with an answer to your question, you’ll feel weird because you want Google as your default search engine. But why? Let’s dig into it.
The difference between Google and Bing is almost nonexistent.
If you compare those two search engines for an average query like, “How to make a pumpkin soup?” They’ll both result in very acceptable answers.
In terms of average functionality, they’re not that different. But in terms of user base, Google is taking almost all of the $224 billion of ad revenue from search.
But if both are almost the same? Why is Google on top?
It’s quite simple — Old habits die hard.
You’re used to a certain brand of milk.
You’re used to a certain shampoo.
You won’t change your pillow if it’s already comfortable.
Google search has been comfortable to you for generations. Why would you ever think of changing that? It’s unlikely, but there are a few exceptions.
ChatGPT freaked out Google.
Why did Google issue a code red? Why did the world start saying that ChatGPT might be a danger to search? The answer is very simple.
How can I cook pumpkin soup, Google?
Okay, how can I cook pumpkin soup, ChatGPT?
One of those two gave me a quick answer that would allow me to start cooking.
Google, however, linked me to the most SEO’d website. This website probably has people who know how to use the Google algorithm properly to get on the first search result page.
That doesn’t mean that ChatGPT’s answer will result in a better soup. But it does mean that both of them have their flaws.
Yet people started to realize, “I could use ChatGPT in search rather than Google.”
It isn’t a better search engine. It’s just a different way of answering your question. Hence, Google released a code red.
Now Apple’s getting in the game, will they be able to force me, an iPhone user, to use their own search engine?
It’s too risky, but don’t rule it out.
I’ll refuse it when they automatically send me to their new search engine (let’s call it iSearch.)
I want Google because I’m used to it and trust its accuracy. Additionally, I know how to get the right answer, and I know which answers are fake or advertised. I learned how to use Google in the past fifteen years. Why would I start learning from scratch?
I trust my knowledge of Google navigation, not Google as a company.
Using an Apple search engine might result in me switching my iPhone if it keeps forcing me to go to iSearch even though I don’t want it. Others might follow, leading to revenue loss for Apple.
They’re already struggling with their iPhone innovation, and they can’t risk losing people over such a functionality.
It is quite lucrative to tap into Google’s $224 billion ad revenue market. But unless they ChatGPT-it somehow, it’s unlikely that they would win customers over.
If they did find an innovative solution to search, though, like ChatGPT, they might force Google into a code “very red.”
IMHO, this code red from Google about GPT-4 and it’s potential dangers isn’t surprising. If Apple is successful in creating their own search engine, it may still be a toss up between iPhone users like me who are familiar with Google and the Google Workspace. As long as I can continue using Google’s search engine. Partnering the pair together will help both brands make as much of their clients’ satisfaction then all “should” be well.