Why Google Search Would Still Dominate Apple’s New Search Engine
Deniz Piatt
Project Manager
The internet is abuzz with rumors of a new search engine on the horizon, and of all tech companies set to enter the market, none pose a greater threat to Alphabet’s Google than the Cupertino giant themselves, Apple!
Rumors began circulating with a Tweet from a reputable Tech Blogger, expressing the inside knowledge that a new search engine is coming on the horizon, teasing ‘Will Siri finally get ‘’smart’’?’
No Official Announcement at the WWDC
The announcement was expected to be released at this year’s WWDC, but this has recently concluded without an announcement of a new Search Engine. With talks of the new Apple Prodcut still being in development, it is time to determine if digital marketers need to plan for a transition to Apple Search, or if this new product is entering a monopolized market.
Apple Search Facts
Apple claims 51% of the mobile market share, and that does not include the desktop & tablet devices being used by individuals, companies, corporations, and etc. With this, it is safe to assume Apple has put themselves in a great position to integrate a new Search Product into existing browsers/services, such as Safari, the Apple Store, and with everyday Siri use.
Regardless of recent Search Market-Share Reporting, Google has remained dominant in this field since taking over the Popular 1990s 1-stop shop of Yahoo!.
Apple’s Dominant Position as a Lifestyle Brand
Now as previously mentioned; Apple has a unique opportunity these other competitors don’t have being a ‘Lifestyle Brand’ in which customers/users who normally have one Apple product prefer to connect all devices via the shared Apple ID that connect your mobile, desktop, tablet, and even watch settings to a single account to remain consistent across all devices! With this, if Apple were to launch a search engine, it is expected to nearly immediately rank as the 2nd most popular search engine [in terms of immediate search volume].
Google isn’t an Easy Pushover
With this being said, we cannot take away from Google’s dominant market-share acquisition on +90% being consistent over the past few years [especially post-COVID]. On top of this industry dominance, as we see from Alphabet’s most notable property, it is expected that with the launch of a new search engine product that Apple can immediately hurt their expected revenue as Google paid $15 billion over the course of 2021 to ensure Google remains the default browser set on Apple devices. If that $15 billion of annual revenue were to disappear, it would be an approximate 15%-20% loss in profits for Apple when compared to 2020 financial reporting.
The price to keep Google as Apple’s default search engine is a competitive market in itself; the price is so high due to Microsoft’s initial proposal to purchase the default rights on Apple IOS to feature Bing Search directly! In other words, it is clear that while Google is working with Apple to ensure Google remains the top competitor, it would be within Apple’s best interests to keep the relationship with the tech giant who revolutionized user behavior on personal devices.
We Shall See Where Apple Search Takes Us
To summarize, while Apple finds themselves in a primed position to enter the Search Market [which if done properly can lead to an increase in annual revenue given the further development of a potential ‘Apple Ads’ platform], it would mean taking an immediate hit with almost no certainty on if the time + money spent to develop such a product may result in similar market share [<10%] such as the likes of Bing and DuckDuckGo.
Keep on the lookout for Apple Search, but if you are hoping for immediate success promoting your brand/bussiness and your products/services, Google will remain the dominant search platform for a large majority of online users/shoppers.
Sources:
https://twitter.com/Scobleizer/status/1530606446009733121
https://www.techradar.com/news/is-apple-about-to-launch-its-very-own-search-engine
https://gs.statcounter.com/search-engine-market-share/all/united-states-of-america
