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They should do a test where the results of a search are done blind... you don't know whether the results are from Google or Bing etc... and then ask if you can tell which is which.

I think this test has been done by various marketing and survey companies and it's surprising how much a brand can influence your perception of correctness and quality.

I've had multiple times that I couldn't find something with Bing at all, but it took only seconds to find it with Google.

Google is objectively just better than Bing. Honestly even DuckDuckGo is better than Bing.
 
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Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella today said that he believes the search engine deal between Apple and Google has made it impossible for other search engines like Bing to compete (via The Wall Street Journal). With Google as the default search engine on Safari on all Apple devices, people become accustomed to using it, Nadella explained in testimony he gave during the ongoing Google vs. U.S. Department of Justice antitrust trial.

microsoft-bing-chatgpt.jpg

"You get up in the morning, you brush your teeth, and you search on Google," said Nadella. "With that level of habit forming, the only way to change is by changing defaults." Nadella went on to say that Google is able to use its ~90 percent market share to improve search results, further reinforcing its monopoly. He said that it's "bogus" that there is choice in the search engine market.

Microsoft has been attempting to chip market share away from Google by adding OpenAI's chatbot technology to Bing, but Nadella says it is unclear how much AI can reshape the existing market because Google's distribution advantage doesn't go away. "I worry a lot about that," he said. "Even in spite of my enthusiasm that there is a new angle with AI, this vicious cycle that I'm trapped in could become even more vicious because the defaults get reinforced."

Last week, iTunes chief Eddy Cue testified in the trial and explained that Apple opts for Google as the default search engine on its devices because the company has "always thought it was the best." Google does pay Apple billions of dollars per year to remain the default search engine, though Cue claimed there is no valid alternative.

Back in 2020, Microsoft approached Apple and offered up Bing as a potential acquisition target, but talks between Microsoft execs and Eddy Cue did not progress, both because of the money Apple gets from Google and concerns that Bing would not be able to compete with Google Search.

Nadella is likely correct that it would be difficult at this point for any search engine to truly compete with Google, especially as long as Google remains the default search engine on Apple devices. The exception might be if Apple decides to develop its own search engine at some point.

In Sunday's edition of the Power On newsletter, Bloomberg's Mark Gurman reiterated rumors that Apple has considered creating its own search engine. Such a solution would be able to provide better privacy and deeper integration with Siri and Spotlight, and Apple has already developed search tools that are used in apps like the App Store and Apple TV.

Apple's AI chief John Giannandrea heads up a search team within Apple, and according to Gurman, that team has created a next-generation search engine for Apple apps. Codenamed "Pegasus," the search technology is able to provide more accurate results. While it is already used in some Apple apps, Apple will be expanding it to additional apps, such as the App Store.

What Apple has now does not match the Google search engine, but Gurman argues that Apple could use it as the backbone for a full search engine in the future.

There are still a few more weeks to go in the antitrust trial, and it is not yet clear what the outcome will be. If lawmakers target the lucrative deal between Apple and Google, the billions of dollars that Apple will lose could serve as a catalyst for Apple to further pursue its own search engine option.

Article Link: Apple Deal Responsible for Google's Dominance in Search, Says Microsoft CEO

Thanks, Satya, for acknowledging and highlighting Apple’s enormous influence in the world! 🤣

Has Bill called to scream at you yet?

And if Ballmer calls and says, “Developers, developers, developers. Developers, developers, developers, developers, developers. Developers, developers. Developers.” I can translate for you.
 

"You get up in the morning, you brush your teeth, and you search on Google," said Nadella. "With that level of habit forming, the only way to change is by changing defaults." Nadella went on to say that Google is able to use its ~90 percent market share to improve search results, further reinforcing its monopoly. He said that it's "bogus" that there is choice in the search engine market.

The key factor is what is the 90% share providing leverage for? Is it the 90% of the feedback ( which links are picked in aggregation ... so the humans are push/pulling better results to the top ) or is that have to spread costs out over 90% of the user base to generate enough money to pay for R&D ( e.g., smarter reading of pages creating better indexing) and capital costs amortization (e.g., $100M divided by 1,000M is a lower cost than divided by 100M )

Some folks in the comments seem to think that it is mainly about throwing gobs of money at it. Apple has gobs of money ... so Apple can do it?


Kind of funny though with Microsoft holding onto ~90% of PC market that isn't a big chunk of the search requests. ... where Apple is suppose to be the sole critical factor. Search is mainly phones and smart speakers? [ Apple getting extra $2-4B a year almost for 'free' to spend compete with Microsoft in other product categories though has to 'hurt'. ]. If the default gets pulled off of iOS then it will likely also fall on Android also. Which is more of the necessary window that Bing needs ( not solely the Apple part. ) . ]


P.S. With extra "do anything crazy' $1-2B/year Apple can pour money down the drain on things like the Apple Car and it doesn't materially make a difference.
 
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I swear every company big and small seems to forget how the internet and everything else surrounding it was like prior to 2007 when the iPhone launched and changed everything. Literally like Google didn't dominate before 2007.
 
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Thanks, Satya, for acknowledging and highlighting Apple’s enormous influence in the world! 🤣

Has Bill called to scream at you yet?

And if Ballmer calls and says, “Developers, developers, developers. Developers, developers, developers, developers, developers. Developers, developers. Developers.” I can translate for you.
Actually, it makes sense he acknowledges it... Apple devices, especially iOS devices have a huge impact on the way we access and search the web. It makes complete sense that the company that gets to be the default search provider on those devices gets a huge market advantage.
 
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Why go after one major competitor when you can go after two? Maybe Google's anticompetitive agreements with android manufacturers across 70% of the global market has something to do with it as well.
 
Google's results in Chinese are nowadays completely ruined by SEO-optimised spams. I can't believe that I would say DuckDuckGo could bring me more useful results in Chinese now.
 
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This Microsoft argument does not make much sense, as Apple only controls around 30% of mobile OS market and around 20% of desktop OS market worldwide.

What Apple “controls” and what Apple’s influence is for global industries are two different things.
 
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I quit google search when my wife had advertizements about my hobbies show up in her facebook feeds. Google has way too much tracking of each user on the same network.
But google and facebook work together too.
 
I don't know what all you guys are doing... I do my searches using Infoseek and Ive not missed a thing :/
 
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A quick search (link below) shows that in January 2007 (pre iPhone) Google had nearly an 80% share of the search engine market. The only other competitor was Yahoo! who seriously screwed the pooch in search. This was at a at a time when 66% of all searches were on PC's using IE and 25% were on PC's using Mozilla. Microsoft failed at search engines (MSN Search and subsequent) since entering the search market in 1998 despite have a monopoly position with IE.

Think about that. A company with control of the entire stack from OS to browser couldn't get people to use their search engine. Now that's piss poor performance.

 
I truly get the “power of the default”

But Bing is a bad search engine. It always returns poor results for me.
 


Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella today said that he believes the search engine deal between Apple and Google has made it impossible for other search engines like Bing to compete (via The Wall Street Journal). With Google as the default search engine on Safari on all Apple devices, people become accustomed to using it, Nadella explained in testimony he gave during the ongoing Google vs. U.S. Department of Justice antitrust trial.

microsoft-bing-chatgpt.jpg

"You get up in the morning, you brush your teeth, and you search on Google," said Nadella. "With that level of habit forming, the only way to change is by changing defaults." Nadella went on to say that Google is able to use its ~90 percent market share to improve search results, further reinforcing its monopoly. He said that it's "bogus" that there is choice in the search engine market.

Microsoft has been attempting to chip market share away from Google by adding OpenAI's chatbot technology to Bing, but Nadella says it is unclear how much AI can reshape the existing market because Google's distribution advantage doesn't go away. "I worry a lot about that," he said. "Even in spite of my enthusiasm that there is a new angle with AI, this vicious cycle that I'm trapped in could become even more vicious because the defaults get reinforced."

Last week, iTunes chief Eddy Cue testified in the trial and explained that Apple opts for Google as the default search engine on its devices because the company has "always thought it was the best." Google does pay Apple billions of dollars per year to remain the default search engine, though Cue claimed there is no valid alternative.

Back in 2020, Microsoft approached Apple and offered up Bing as a potential acquisition target, but talks between Microsoft execs and Eddy Cue did not progress, both because of the money Apple gets from Google and concerns that Bing would not be able to compete with Google Search.

Nadella is likely correct that it would be difficult at this point for any search engine to truly compete with Google, especially as long as Google remains the default search engine on Apple devices. The exception might be if Apple decides to develop its own search engine at some point.

In Sunday's edition of the Power On newsletter, Bloomberg's Mark Gurman reiterated rumors that Apple has considered creating its own search engine. Such a solution would be able to provide better privacy and deeper integration with Siri and Spotlight, and Apple has already developed search tools that are used in apps like the App Store and Apple TV.

Apple's AI chief John Giannandrea heads up a search team within Apple, and according to Gurman, that team has created a next-generation search engine for Apple apps. Codenamed "Pegasus," the search technology is able to provide more accurate results. While it is already used in some Apple apps, Apple will be expanding it to additional apps, such as the App Store.

What Apple has now does not match the Google search engine, but Gurman argues that Apple could use it as the backbone for a full search engine in the future.

There are still a few more weeks to go in the antitrust trial, and it is not yet clear what the outcome will be. If lawmakers target the lucrative deal between Apple and Google, the billions of dollars that Apple will lose could serve as a catalyst for Apple to further pursue its own search engine option.

Article Link: Apple Deal Responsible for Google's Dominance in Search, Says Microsoft CEO
I tried bing and it always sucked
 
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