Recently it’s become pretty clear that Apple and Google have taken the cozy relationship they had established over the past decade to frenemy status. Google’s Android operating system fueled a new army of smartphone competitors that stole some market share from Apple’s iPhone. In fact, more recently, Google unveiled a mobile device of its own, the Nexus One. Apple also spurred Google by rejecting its Google Voice application for the iPhone. The two former allies are becoming competitors. The most recent evidence of this? Apple may drop Google as the iPhone’s default search engine and replace it with Microsoft’s Bing search.
Bloomberg reports on the development:
Apple Inc. is in talks with Microsoft Corp. to replace Google Inc. as the default search engine on the iPhone, according to two people familiar with the matter.
The talks have been under way for weeks, said the people, who asked not to be identified because the details aren’t public. The negotiations may not be concluded quickly and might still fall apart, the people said.
Interestingly, this article only mentions the iPhone as where Apple would replace Google as default search engine, but doesn’t mention its plans regarding its other devices that run its Safari web browser. If it changes Google as Safari’s default search as well, then that could have an even greater impact on Google. Though, it’s a little unclear why this wouldn’t be Apple’s next step, if it decides to go the Bing route on the iPhone.
Whether Apple ultimately decides to replace Google’s search as the default on its iPhones or not, the report that it’s considering doing so is quite significant. The idea that Apple would even humor becoming a partner with arch-rival Microsoft shows just how big a threat it must view Google as. After all, these days Google is the Microsoft of the 1990s, and Apple must realize that.
And it’s not only Google’s search in Apple’s crosshairs. The article also says:
Apple is also working on ways to manage ads displayed on its mobile devices, a move that would challenge Google’s advertising business, one of the people said.
Apple’s smart to be taking these steps. It continues to try to find additional sources of revenue, and managing ads displayed is just another. While Google isn’t necessarily shaking in its boots over this news, it certainly can’t be pleased. But then, it sort of did move first by challenging Apple’s smartphone dominance.
