Apple Could Reportedly Challenge Google on Search

Apple is reportedly planning to bring the same search technology that powers Siri and Spotlight to the App Store. And according to a report from Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman, the company could now have the technology to challenge Google’s position as the default search engine on iOS.

Spotlight, the system-wide search feature on iOS and macOS is already capable of showing web results, and so does Apple’s digital assistant Siri. According to Gurman, this next-generation search engine codenamed “Pegasus” is coming to the App Store and other Apple apps, but the company may not stop there.

“Giannandrea’s team is now looking to more deeply integrate Apple’s search features into the iOS and macOS experience — and potentially bolster the technology with its new generative AI tools,” Gurman wrote. The reporter previously revealed that Apple had started testing its own alternative to OpenAI’s ChatGPT internally.

Apple currently has a lucrative deal with Alphabet to make Google the default search engine in Safari on iOS. This deal reportedly brings Apple approximately $8 billion in annual revenue.

Last week, we learned from the DOJ’s antitrust trial against Google that Microsoft considered investing billions of dollars in Apple to make Bing replace Google as the default search engine in Safari. At some point, Microsoft even discussed selling Bing to Apple, though Apple executive Eddy Cue said at the trial that the company had no immediate incentive to ditch Google.

Apple is all about vertical integration, and the company also already has the advertising technology to help monetize a new in-house search engine. However, competing with a juggernaut like Google certainly wouldn’t be easy. As you may recall, Apple replacing Google Maps with its own Maps app on iOS 6 didn’t go well at all, even though Apple Maps became much better over the years.

Ultimately, even if Apple doesn’t launch a full-blown search engine to replace Google on its devices, the company could still use its search technology to pressure Google to pay more to remain the default option on its devices. Indeed, Google probably can’t really afford to lose access to billions of people using its search engine on iPhones and iPads.