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iOS 26.2 Adds Safari Search Engine Choice Screen in Japan Ahead of New Law
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That's an enormous amount of money, which makes me wonder what all Google is getting for it.
You really don't know? The answer is access to the data of the most lucrative group of mobile users in the market- iPhone users. WE are the product.
I think you’re absolutely right about the “access to data” point. But I doubt “most lucrative group” means as much as we’d like to believe.
I wish Google’s interest were limited to wealthy consumers, but there’s plenty of profit in the poor. They just sell the data to different customers. Subprime lenders, political parties, and retail giants all have reasons to know what the lower-income crowd is searching for. The rich buy luxury, the poor get targeted. Both are great for mining data from.
Sorry if I wasn't more clear on this. Google absolutely wants the data of wealthy users. But I think they really just want "all" the data.
What is really crazy is when you think about the scale of the purchase. I think there are around 1.4 or 1.5 billion world wide iPhone users. They are willing to pay 20B for default selection of that user base (just of the phone). The bean counters at google have decided this was a good financial move. in 2024 Alphabet reported 350B revenue. 20B is about 5% of that revenue (not profit). It's insane to think about how valuable and marketable our search history for concert tickets and "what the hell does 6 7 mean" is. 🤣
I'm surprised they didn't just remove search entirely in another fit of malicious compliance with sensible regulations.
I don't think this is an unreasonable requirement. I suspect I'm like most people in not really caring about this one way or another (unless asked or posting on a forum). But, I don't know if I'd call it "sensible regulation". Anyone who actually cares would go into the settings and change it. So this is really just a marketing exercise. Like the government telling Target they have to have Tide, All, and Gain on the end cap of the detergent aisle. In the end it is more or less meaningless to the consumer. I just don't know that I want the government in the business of micromanaging product design. I have a hard time supporting any regulation that puts design, function, and/or aesthetic product decisions in a politicians hands. I acknowledge public interests is sometimes served by this, but I think it should be limited to safety and environmental impact.
Of course. But exactly what data are they getting besides the obvious of search history?
It sounds like you might be suggesting there’s some kind of secret data-sharing deal between Apple and Google beyond the search partnership. I find that highly unlikely.
The logistics alone make it nearly impossible to do without the entire world knowing.. Something like that would have to be explicitly spelled out in a contract, meaning there’d be a paper trail, lawyers, compliance officers, and auditors who’d all see it. That would violate privacy laws in half the world. And while I’m not naïve about corporate ethics, Apple’s entire brand hinges on “we protect your data.” They’re not dumb enough to leave a signed confession sitting in a data-sharing clause.
Then you’d need engineers on both sides to quietly/secretly build, test, and maintain those hidden data pipelines. Apple would need to exfiltrate user information. Google would have to store, tag, and monetize it (which would likely require exposing or at least hinting to "additionally value"). Hundreds or thousands of people would know. Someone would leak.
Meanwhile, the data Google already gets from being your default search engine is ridiculously valuable. It’s not just the search terms. They see what you don’t click, how long you hover, your IP address, device type, language, time zone, and all the subtle correlations that tie back to Gmail, YouTube, Maps, and ad profiles. That’s already a living, breathing dossier on human behavior — no extra data is required to justify 20B. That's a bargain.
Yes, but aforementioned search engines aren’t even on the list and there’s literally no way to expand that list on iOS. THAT is the issue.
Oh yeah you meant actual features rather than policy. Totally agree there.