Google Paid Apple $1 Billion in 2014 to be Default iOS Search Engine

[MH01]

i ditched google as I was spammed with advertisements. Now Im on duck duck go.
but wish Apple would design their own search engine.

How does moving to DuckDuckGo improve your ad free experiece ? DuckDuckGo is not tracking you, though by visiting different websites, Google is still most probably tacking you. (As a lot of sites run Google advertising )
[doublepost=1453471405][/doublepost]I hope people realise that by using DuckDuckGo , you are just not being tracked on the searches.

As soon as you click on a search result, and go to that link, there is still a very good chance that the site your going to , has Google advertising , Google still gets you and tracks you .

I hope you all realise mac rumors uses double click for its advertising, google's double click, everytime you come to MR you are being tracked, Google knows all you guys like apple products big brother Google is watching.....

For people bashing Google, refusing to use thier services and defending apple for privacy etc......each day you come on MR , your breaking your own principles ..... Just saying.

 

[Chupa Chupa]

I wonder if Tim Cook would be willing to address this, given his stance on privacy and advertising revenue.

Yes but I think you are mixing two different privacy areas. TC's position is that a user's personal info is a user's personal info until the user wishes to disclose it. But when a user searches using Google they are making the decision to disclose whatever info Google says they collect when you search with their search engine.

You might have a point if Google was the only search engine available in the search bar, but it's not, it's just the default. I realize that many consumers may not realize this or know how to change. But most don't care or prefer Google. Either way the consumer is making the decision. It's not the government asking Apple for a user's information -- that is the issue TC is raising.

 

[antonis]

As DuckDuckGo CEO said recently, there are various types of advertising. I'd say, there is a very thin line between advertising and spying, but there is one.

For example:

Today I make a search about cars. So the results I get, contain ads related to cars, based on the keyword I've used to make the search. Tomorrow, I'll search for computers, and I'll be presented with related ads based on that keyword. And so on. This is advertising, as it is non-intrusive, still profitable, and based on the current action I made at a given time.

And then...there's the Google way. I search today for cars, and search tomorrow for computers. And I get recorded for it. After a few searches/days, a profile will be made, linked to my google account, following me everywhere google is involved directly or not, to bring up ads always related to my profile. It is also obvious that with this latter method, my stored profile can be used for many other things besides pop-up ads. That's spying and it is even more profitable.

 

[dakwar]

I use my fair share of Google's services but not their apps directly, so I have no interest in having their apps preloaded on my phone. Not all their iOS apps are that fantastic. For instance, I use Protube over Youtube because it blocks ads and has a number of features Youtube hasn't implemented yet, such as PIP, split-screen multitasking and Background audio streaming.

And after seeing how Google screwed us iPhone users over with Maps for so long, I am using Maps over Google Maps for as long as Maps still meets my needs.
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Considering that Apple gave up iAds recently, I doubt it. They lack the scale and the expertise and I don't see how Apple would monetise it. I could see Apple buying DuckDuckGo but I have used it a few time and the search results really suck.

I like the simplicity of DuckDuckGo and that it's not littered with ads. I've been using it quite a lot and haven't noticed anything lacking there compared to Google's.

 

[iReality85]

Not surprising at all. Google makes almost double off of every iPhone user compared to Android users. Keeping them using Google search means billions in revenue for Google and is well worth the price paid.

Agreed.

And how many people actually know that they can, in fact, change the search engine in their settings? Or would even bother, or want to? Not many, I'd wager.

Hell, most probably don't even realize they're 'defaulting' to Google, since searching with Google is as natural as waking up everyday. And Google is willing to pay big money for that.

 

[Lennholm]

How does moving to DuckDuckGo improve your ad free experiece ? DuckDuckGo is not tracking you, though by visiting different websites, Google is still most probably tacking you. (As a lot of sites run Google advertising )
[doublepost=1453471405][/doublepost]I hope people realise that by using DuckDuckGo , you are just not being tracked on the searches.

As soon as you click on a search result, and go to that link, there is still a very good chance that the site your going to , has Google advertising , Google still gets you and tracks you .

I hope you all realise mac rumors uses double click for its advertising, google's double click, everytime you come to MR you are being tracked, Google knows all you guys like apple products big brother Google is watching.....

For people bashing Google, refusing to use thier services and defending apple for privacy etc......each day you come on MR , your breaking your own principles ..... Just saying.

And even if the site doesn't have Google ads on it, it most probably uses Google Analytics in which case you're being tracked anyway.

 

[GenesisST]

Give us all Google Apps and services preloaded.

Errr, no. OSes should be stock and not full of crappy bloatware. That is true whether it is Android, Windows, OS X, iOS or Linux. Even iOS has some apps I don't want... Yeah, looking at you Game Center, Hints and Stock...

 

[bobenhaus]

We dodged a bullet! Can you imagine having to use Marissa Mayer's Mess that is Yahoo!?

umm Yahoo's search engine is Google. Do a google search on Yahoo and Google. l

 

[MH01]

And even if the site doesn't have Google ads on it, it most probably uses Google Analytics in which case you're being tracked anyway.

He he he. I was saving that one up

Yes spot on, Google is very clever in offering an excellent analystics platform for free.

By being the default search engine for Apple and between advertising / analytics Google knows what most Apple users are viewing.

Only thing left for Google is to buy some major CDN networks.....

 

[FelixDerKater]

If other search engines were as good, they might have the money to throw down...

 

[samcraig]

I could pretty much guarantee that Apple will not come close to that revenue stream if they switch providers.

 

[WigWag Workshop]

I been using Duck Duck Go for over a year, and never had any problems finding what I was searching for.

 

[69Mustang]

How does moving to DuckDuckGo improve your ad free experiece ? DuckDuckGo is not tracking you, though by visiting different websites, Google is still most probably tacking you. (As a lot of sites run Google advertising )
[doublepost=1453471405][/doublepost]I hope people realise that by using DuckDuckGo , you are just not being tracked on the searches.

As soon as you click on a search result, and go to that link, there is still a very good chance that the site your going to , has Google advertising , Google still gets you and tracks you .

Ignorance is bliss. If some people think they're getting away from Google, they're happy. Reality may say something totally different, but as they say, perception is real reality. As long as Apple's leadership gives them the warm and fuzzies about privacy and not being the product, they're happy. 100% nothing wrong with that either. Behind the scenes, the business of doing business continues. Apple's really damn good at the business of doing business. Feel good lip service (marketing) to customers is part of that. Using Google to provide those same customers the best user experience is also a part of that. The revelations from the Oracle trial are throwing a wrench into the narrative of Good Apple v Evil Google. Personally, I'd like these things to remain secret. It greatly contributes to the binary myopia that is forum life. MR and other sites would be pretty boring if we all came to the realization that these companies view each other through the lens of profit margin and who contributes to it the most. Fanboyism be damned.

 

[usarioclave]

As soon as you click on a search result, and go to that link, there is still a very good chance that the site your going to , has Google advertising , Google still gets you and tracks you .

Yes, that's why I have adblocking turned on, why I block google analytics, and don't use google's DNS: so I can minimize google's visibility.

What google will do next is buy akamai or some other CDN so they're actually serving stuff to you. That way you can't really block them.

 

[rekhyt]

I would like to see Apple set their ego aside and use Google as the default search engine. Give us all Google Apps and services preloaded. That would save me from having to install all that each year when I get a new iPhone. I have enjoyed the enhanced performance and functionality of my iPhones and Android phones thanks to Google. They've done a lot for mobile computing and communications.

Sure thing, if they shut down Android.

 

[Tsuchiya]

Yes but I think you are mixing two different privacy areas. TC's position is that a user's personal info is a user's personal info until the user wishes to disclose it. But when a user searches using Google they are making the decision to disclose whatever info Google says they collect when you search with their search engine.

You might have a point if Google was the only search engine available in the search bar, but it's not, it's just the default. I realize that many consumers may not realize this or know how to change. But most don't care or prefer Google. Either way the consumer is making the decision. It's not the government asking Apple for a user's information -- that is the issue TC is raising.

The article claims that Apple also takes a cut of the ad revenue Google makes through these searches. If true, then I'm not sure Tim can reconcile that with what he said during the EPIC event last June:

“I’m speaking to you from Silicon Valley, where some of the most prominent and successful companies have built their businesses by lulling their customers into complacency about their personal information,” said Cook. “They’re gobbling up everything they can learn about you and trying to monetize it. We think that’s wrong. And it’s not the kind of company that Apple wants to be.”

That was taken from Here.

 

[MH01]

Yes, that's why I have adblocking turned on, why I block google analytics, and don't use google's DNS: so I can minimize google's visibility.

What google will do next is buy akamai or some other CDN so they're actually serving stuff to you. That way you can't really block them.

Bingo!!!

And that is my biggest fear, if they buy Akamai, they got most of the web covered, without needing to put thier code on the origin websites. Google buying Akamai is scary.

And the Irony for 2016...... Mac Rumors uses Both google Advertising and Google Analytics, just checked.

Unless some of our most vocal users are running ad blockers and using proxies..... what can I say LOL......

 

[unplugme71]

Little does Google know, most people would change whatever other default is set to Google for free.

 

[Chupa Chupa]

The article claims that Apple also takes a cut of the ad revenue Google makes through these searches. If true, then I'm not sure Tim can reconcile that with what he said during the EPIC event last June:

That was taken from Here.

My original response to you is how TC would reconcile it. TC is talking about encryption and Apple data mining users in its own products. He's talking about Photos vs Picassa, iCloud email vs Gmail. It's well advertised that Google reads people's Gmail. TC is saying Apple doesn't read iCloud mail, does sift through your iCloud Photos, etc. He isn't saying Apple doesn't leverage its products for additional revenue, only that a users information is private until that user choses to disclose it.

Google isn't an Apple product. Safari is, but Safari isn't collecting the data, Google is. Apple isn't making $ off the data users voluntarily give Google, it's getting rent for being the default search engine. But again, users aren't tied to using Google. They can use a host of others, all preconfigured in Safari's preferences. Apple would be negligent if it didn't get money from Google for this, and it would lose marketshare if it didn't allow Google in its search bar. It's not black and white as you want it to be.

 

[Vicrooloo]

1. I'm surprised DuckDuckGo is still a thing

2. I find myself thinking about those people who are criticizing Apple lately and saying things like "Steve Jobs is rolling in his grave". I mean, Steve Jobs was alive when Google was paying Apple a billion dollars, give or take, to be the default search engine for a company that prides in default privacy. I don't think the Apple Post-Jobs is all that different from Apple During-Jobs

 

[wigby]

Wow.... Jeez how much did Google make?!??

Apparently not as much as one would think...according to this report, they only made 31 billion total for life of Android. That's less than a single quarter's revenue of iPhone sales!

http://www.theverge.com/2016/1/21/10810834/android-generated-31-billion-revenue-google-oracle
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I assume you have no idea about how a search engine built. If you notice, even the Yahoo and Bing can't hold a candle next to Google.

Actually, Google's the only search engine continually losing marketshare. Bing is way up to about 30%.

http://bgr.com/2015/04/16/bing-vs-google-vs-yahoo-market-share/

 

[MH01]

My original response to you is how TC would reconcile it. TC is talking about encryption and Apple data mining users in its own products. He's talking about Photos vs Picassa, iCloud email vs Gmail. It's well advertised that Google reads people's Gmail. TC is saying Apple doesn't read iCloud mail, does sift through your iCloud Photos, etc. He isn't saying Apple doesn't leverage its products for additional revenue, only that a users information is private until that user choses to disclose it.

Google isn't an Apple product. Safari is, but Safari isn't collecting the data, Google is. Apple isn't making $ off the data users voluntarily give Google, it's getting rent for being the default search engine. But again, users aren't tied to using Google. They can use a host of others, all preconfigured in Safari's preferences. Apple would be negligent if it didn't get money from Google for this, and it would lose marketshare if it didn't allow Google in its search bar. It's not black and white as you want it to be.

The problem is that the average user will listen to TC and believe by using the iPhone thier data is private, while behind the scenes Apple has taken money from Google , and Google is tracking these iPhone users.

There is hypocrisy here, $1 billion is very little to Apple if they were truly serious about the privacy of thier users.

While all these companies pretend to be competitors for the cameras , behind the scenes money talks, and they work quite well together.

 

[samcraig]

Apparently not as much as one would think...according to this report, they only made 31 billion total for life of Android. That's less than a single quarter's revenue of iPhone sales!

http://www.theverge.com/2016/1/21/10810834/android-generated-31-billion-revenue-google-oracle
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Actually, Google's the only search engine continually losing marketshare. Bing is way up to about 30%.

http://bgr.com/2015/04/16/bing-vs-google-vs-yahoo-market-share/

Yes - well when you're the leading player - it's easier to lose marketshare than gain it.

 

[rolsskk]

I would like to see Apple set their ego aside and use Google as the default search engine. Give us all Google Apps and services preloaded. That would save me from having to install all that each year when I get a new iPhone. I have enjoyed the enhanced performance and functionality of my iPhones and Android phones thanks to Google. They've done a lot for mobile computing and communications.

Such a first world problem. Are you truly inconvenienced each and every year that you have to buy a new phone and redownload some apps?

 

[DUCKofD3ATH]

umm Yahoo's search engine is Google. Do a google search on Yahoo and Google. l

Doesn't matter what's under the hood, Yahoo! is the tackiest search tool ever.