Key Points:
- Google’s Billion Dollar Bet: The company spends a hefty sum to be the default search engine on iPhones, but faces antitrust scrutiny threatening this arrangement.
- App Ambitions: Google seeks to increase iPhone users on its apps, aiming for 50% of searches to bypass Safari’s default status.
- Preinstalled Power: Safari’s built-in advantage and user inertia make it difficult for Google to attract iPhone users to its apps.
Google’s dominance in search engines extends to a surprising financial commitment: billions of dollars annually to secure its position as the default option on Apple iPhones. This strategic partnership, however, is under growing antitrust pressure, prompting Google to explore alternative avenues for maximizing search traffic on iPhones. One such strategy involves encouraging users to adopt Google’s suite of apps for their search needs.
Data suggests Google has made some headway in this pursuit, with a reported 30% of iPhone search queries now originating from Google’s apps, up from 25% five years ago. However, the company reportedly aims to reach a much more significant milestone: 50% of all iPhone searches are conducted through Google apps.
The Information, a technology news outlet, recently unveiled a report highlighting the challenges Google faces in achieving this goal. The primary obstacle appears to be Safari’s inherent advantage. As a pre-installed app on all iPhones, Safari enjoys user familiarity and convenience that Google’s apps struggle to overcome. Sources involved in the project reportedly acknowledged this difficulty, stating that “it is simply too hard to overcome the fact that Safari is preinstalled on Apple devices.”
In an attempt to incentivize users towards its apps, Google reportedly considered restricting access to specific features, such as AI-powered summaries (AI Overviews), to Google’s apps only, excluding them from Safari searches. Ultimately, the report suggests, Google refrained from implementing this potentially user-unfriendly strategy.
The Information’s report also sheds light on another, ultimately unsuccessful, project Google undertook. This involved the development of a platform within the Google app that would allow users to upload short-form videos, similar to those popularized by TikTok and YouTube Shorts. The intention was to have these user-generated videos appear directly within search results. However, the project reportedly failed to gain traction and was eventually shelved.
Google’s struggle to dethrone Safari on iPhones underscores the entrenched nature of pre-installed apps and the challenge of overcoming user inertia. While Google’s financial muscle can secure a default search engine position, enticing users to actively switch to its apps on a platform dominated by a well-integrated alternative proves a more formidable task. The company’s future efforts in this arena will be worth watching, particularly as it navigates the complexities of the antitrust landscape.
