According to a Bloomberg report, in 2020, Microsoft explored the possibility of selling its search engine, Bing, to Apple. Had this deal materialized, Bing would have taken over from Google as the default search engine on Apple devices.
The report disclosed that Microsoft executives held discussions with Eddy Cue, Apple's head of services, but these talks were preliminary and did not progress further.
Bloomberg explained that Apple decided against pursuing the deal primarily because of the substantial revenue it receives from Google in exchange for keeping Google as the default search engine on its devices. Additionally, Apple had reservations about Bing's ability to compete with Google in terms of quality and capabilities.
It's important to note that Google has held the position of the default search engine on Apple devices for an extended period, thanks to an agreement between the two tech giants. This partnership is lucrative for Apple, with estimates suggesting annual payments from Google in the range of $20 billion.
Currently, this agreement between Apple and Google is facing scrutiny due to an antitrust case involving Google and the U.S. Department of Justice. The Department of Justice is using Google's dominance on Apple devices as evidence of anti-competitive behavior in the search engine market.
Apple has defended its use of Google as the default search engine by asserting that it has not found a suitable alternative. However, Apple users have the option to change their default search engine to alternatives like Bing, Yahoo, and DuckDuckGo.
In recent years, Bing has garnered attention due to Microsoft's collaboration with OpenAI and the introduction of numerous artificial intelligence features.
Comments
Post a Comment