Last weekend, Apple made it clear that it does not intend to enter the search engine market, despite recurring speculation on the subject. Eddy Cue, Apple’s senior vice president of services, detailed the reasons for this choice in a legal declaration, as the agreement between Apple and Google is at the heart of a legal battle with the US Department of Justice.
The three reasons that prevent Apple from creating its search engine
In his statement, Eddy Cue explains very clearly why Apple does not want to develop its own search engine. First reason: the cost and resources required would be considerable, “billions of dollars” and “several years” in his words. Apple prefers to focus its investments and talents on other areas of growth.
Second point, the online search market is currently experiencing a revolution with artificial intelligence. The economic risk would therefore be too great for Apple to venture there now. Finally, and perhaps most importantly, creating a viable search engine would require building a targeted advertising platform, which runs counter to Apple’s historic privacy commitments.
A $20 billion deal under threat
The stakes are high since Google pays around $20 billion per year to Apple to remain the default search engine on Safari. An agreement which is today in the sights of American justice, which considers it illegal as part of its antitrust trial against Google.
Faced with this situation, Apple is asking to be able to defend its interests during the trial which will be held in April. “Google can no longer adequately represent Apple’s interests,” explains the Cupertino company in its request. The company particularly wishes to have its own experts testify to demonstrate the importance of this agreement for the user experience on its devices.
Eddy Cue also insists on this point:
Apple is single-mindedly focused on creating the best possible user experience and is exploring potential partnerships with other companies to achieve this. An end to the agreement with Google would hamper Apple’s ability to continue offering products that best meet the needs of its users.
The final decision of the American court could therefore have major repercussions on the tech landscape, even if Apple confirms that it does not intend to develop an alternative to Google Search, whatever the verdict.
