Apple Gets 36% of Google's Safari Search Revenue

[Plutonius]

If it's not a bribe, then what do you call it when Alphabet/Google pays Apple to not develop their own search engine that would compete with Google?

Google Is Paying Apple a Lot of Money Not to Build a Search Engine. Why It's Just Not Worth It

The money Apple gets isn't worth the conflict with its values.

www.inc.com

Business ...

 

[webkit]

Gone are the days when Apple would criticize business practices like this one.
Now they soak it up.

Apple still criticized Google's business practices while at the same time benefiting financially from those business practices.

 

[cocky jeremy]

So Apple is extremely corrupt. Has there ever been a higher bribe in history?

Just like Snickers. Can you believe they give part of the money they make to these gas stations and grocery stores that sell their product? Insanity!

 

[4nNtt]

They couldn’t even get it to the standard 30% store fee.

 

[cocky jeremy]

This whole story got me to finish de-Googling and switch to Duck Duck Go for search. Amazing what a superior product Google has but DDG is good enough and I haven’t looked back. I can live with good enough.

DDG was good for one thing for me... getting me back to Google to get a real answer.

 

[4nNtt]

Apple still criticized Google's business practices while at the same time benefiting financially from those business practices.

Yeah, but what is the alternative? Apple is unlikely to build something better… search engines have a chicken and egg problem. You bet that Apple is feeding searches via Spotlight in to their own engine to build some sort of starting point if they ever jump in as a competitor. It is still a huge gulf to bridge.

 

[breather]

So Apple is extremely corrupt. Has there ever been a higher bribe in history?

Thats a bad take.
It´s a deal, a lucrative deal, that's it.

 

[FrozenDarkness]

it doesn't actually make any sense for apple to use this as a catalyst to start their own search engine. wouldn't the outcome of this lawsuit be that consumers get to choose which engine to use? Apple would only be able to compete if they force users to use apple's own search engines.

 

[eno12]

Bing can't compete because Bing sucks. Nadella has major sads about Microsoft failing to dominate another market. Microsoft's wasted effort there is part of the reason their domination has slipped in the last 20+ years. They failed to see the importance of mobile, then developed the crappy Windows Mobile OS. They failed to see just how bad their server software is and lost big time to Linux and other UNIX-based OSes. Now they are back to their old antics of domination through purchasing with this Activision purchase. F' M$.

 

[Will Co]

People - you have a choice. It's not necessarily a good choice, but it is a choice. Google might be the default search engine, but it's not the only one. Apple isn't forcing you to send your data to Google.

I suppose the question here is this: if Apple were to create a search engine, and a privacy focused one, would the net revenue they gain from it be more than the fee they receive for "not building one"?

 

[eno12]

Thats a bad take.
It´s a deal, a lucrative deal, that's it.

Exactly this. Web search is fairly difficult and the established players are good at it. Apple is getting a huge cut for doing nothing but setting a default. A default that can easily be changed if user's prefer (Nadella suggesting the default is a bigger deal that it is is sour grapes from a horrible company).

 

[Will Co]

it doesn't actually make any sense for apple to use this as a catalyst to start their own search engine. wouldn't the outcome of this lawsuit be that consumers get to choose which engine to use? Apple would only be able to compete if they force users to use apple's own search engines.

Not necessarily. I don't use Google for anything, knowingly. DDS is my go to. If Apple gave me another choice - such as a privacy focused search engine built by them, and if it was better than DDS, then I'd switch. I reckon a lot of people are privacy focused (not nearly enough) and might make a similar decision. It's a gamble though. Roughly a $20 billion gamble.

 

[kiensoy]

Apple could very well show a screen similar to this one when setting up Safari the first time, listing the different search engines it supports. They say they care about privacy but they choose Google as default because of money. People shouldn’t believe customers (or their privacy) are priority for Apple.

 

[erikkfi]

But remember, Eddy Cue thinks you’re a moron and so testified that the only reason Google is the default is that it’s the best.

 

[jdavid_rp]

Doesn’t sound GDPR compliant!

Why not? First of all surely almost everyome just clicks “allow” when google shows that big scrollable thing when you open google for the first time. And then anonymous logging is compliant afaik, it’s just analytics for billing purposes. Not every logging is automatically against GDPR

 

[JoEw]

It's not public knowledge, other than leaks. Shareholders are not privy to these deals or the numbers

If Apples services revenue and their overall profit dropped a steep percentage in a quarterly earnings report. They would be under immense pressure to explain to shareholders why this happened. Especially since the company’s narrative has been to grow services revenue to drive growth.

 

[Wasp14]

DDG was good for one thing for me... getting me back to Google to get a real answer.

To each their own. I’ve been using DDG for 2 years now and it’s perfectly fine. Reminds me of earlier internet search where you had to be more specific which is a trade off I’m okay with.

 

[mannyvel]

What's destabilizing about this is it shows that there's a precedent for content companies to pay for access to someone's pipes. This is net neutrality in a different space.

 

[philstubbington]

Having a high revenue share is not "corruption." This is Google paying Apple to stay out of the search market.

If this upsets you, wait until you find out how high the markup is on retail clothing...

… or books….

 

[jav6454]

So Apple is extremely corrupt. Has there ever been a higher bribe in history?

That's not a bribe.

 

[Mescagnus]

All they have to log is the user agent under this arrangement. It doesn't need any location, IP, or other information.

They can be spoofed but no one does.

Exactly. Apple doesn't need to share any user data for Google to know which searches are made on iPhone (or iPad or Mac). Google just identifies the user agent.

 

[gund1234]

So Apple is extremely corrupt. Has there ever been a higher bribe in history?

treason, should be shot to death ?
People don't even know what is corruption any more ?
it takes less than 1 min to change default search engine in mac and phone.
I change it all the time in safari, iPhone, FireFox.
How is taking a cut in revenue bribery ?
what next selling phone to customer is bribery ?

 

[gund1234]

Apple makes this big song and dance on their keynotes about how they really care about your privacy whilst doing shady backroom deals with Google.

How is this shady ?
if Apple didn't give users option to change search engine then i would be mad, but they do give you the option to change, not shady if you as me.

 

[ethanwa79]

So Apple is extremely corrupt. Has there ever been a higher bribe in history?

Bribe? It’s called capitalism.

And users can already change their default search engine. No one wants to though because Google gives the best results.

 

[Tyler O'Bannon]

So Apple is extremely corrupt. Has there ever been a higher bribe in history?

I don’t know how to break this to you, but ads are the only reason the internet exists. Nothing is free. Apple makes money off of ads, and so does every company on Earth. I don’t care who you work for, they advertise in some way. Thats how they get customers, sell the or product or service, and pay you.

No website operates for free. They have technical and personnel expenses, and ads are how they make money.

It’s ridiculous that this bothers people. I read the comments in posts about ads and the things that people say are just insane. Of course you get ads, and you always will. Not one private or government regulated change is going to change that.

I rarely comment on these threads about ads, but it astounds me how many people just thing all of this stuff should exist for free.

Bring on the haha’s, thumbs down, and angry faces. You will still see ads tomorrow. And I bet most of you, your next paycheck will come in because your company advertises.