Recently unsealed court testimonies have revealed that Apple held discussions with Microsoft and DuckDuckGo to potentially use their search engines on Apple devices. The talks with Microsoft even included the possibility of Apple acquiring Bing. These discussions served as leverage for Apple during negotiations with Google, the default search engine on Apple devices. While Apple has used Bing as the default search service in the past, it ultimately decided to stick with Google in a deal estimated to be worth around $19 billion annually.
The newly unsealed testimony of Apple’s senior vice president, John Giannandrea, sheds light on the discussions with Microsoft. Apple met with Microsoft in 2018 and 2020 to discuss a potential acquisition or joint venture involving Bing. However, Apple found that Bing’s search results generally performed worse than Google, except for desktop searches in English.
It has also been revealed that Apple had discussions with DuckDuckGo to make it the default search engine for Safari’s private browsing mode. DuckDuckGo markets itself as a privacy-focused alternative to major search engines. Although DuckDuckGo’s CEO, Gabriel Weinberg, believed that Apple would launch the switch, Giannandrea claims that he was unaware of Apple’s consideration and even questioned DuckDuckGo’s privacy claims. Giannandrea expressed concerns that DuckDuckGo’s reliance on Bing for search information could lead to sharing user data with Microsoft.
Overall, these testimonies provide insights into Apple’s exploration of alternative search engine options and highlight the competitive dynamics at play in negotiations with major search engine providers.
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