Just a few short years ago, news first surfaced that Apple was considering rolling out its own search engine in a bid to oust Google’s dominance across its devices (and perhaps most significantly, Siri). Now, the rumour mill has once again begun to turn.
According to a report in the Financial Times, Apple has taken a resurgent interest in developing its own search engine given the potential antitrust lawsuits Google may be facing due to alleged anti-competitive practises.
Taken with a pinch of irony, the news would see Apple seek to eliminate Google’s presence aboard Siri and the homepage of its devices – the report itself notes increasing activity from Apple’s web crawlers in a bid to self-rely on its own search strengths.
Apple wouldn’t be the first firm to try and tackle Google. Notably, Microsoft’s range of Windows Phone and Windows Mobile devices attempted to push Bing on its users – and, naturally, we all know how that turned out.
Google has for years maintained the (expensive) rights to be the search engine of preference on Apple’s Safari browser – and while this gives the company extensive coverage, it is perhaps less relevant now that iOS users can specify their own default browser. Of course, it remains up to an individual’s preference to change their search engine away from Google – a choice few users make.
It remains to be seen in what direction Apple may choose to take its own version of search. For now, it’s own search methodology has been restricted to content and apps aboard iOS and in Spotlight on the Mac.
What are your thoughts? Would you use a search engine made by Apple? Let us know in the comments below.
