Apple looks to advance search technology as officials investigate Google

Apple will benefit from having its own search engine as it will help the company keep its services and user data within a single ecosystem, while reducing its reliance on Google Search, analysts said.

An in-house search capability will also enable the world’s most valuable technology company to better align its wireless hardware with Apple Maps and other software, they added.

The iPhone maker has reportedly ramped up efforts to develop its own search technology after US anti-trust authorities began probing the multibillion-dollar payments that Google makes each year to ensure its placement as a default search tool on iPhones, the Financial Times reported last week.

Apple did not respond to The National's request to comment.

Although Apple has its own web browser, Safari, to connect users to the internet, it relies on Google’s search engine to help its users navigate the internet. Currently, when consumers search something using the Safari browser it will direct them automatically to Google’s search engine. Apple users can opt to change this in their settings and switch to Microsoft Bing or Yahoo! Search if needed.

“[Google] Search is an important enabler for Apple devices that are increasingly using new wireless technologies to sense the world and provide services and content in response … such as the ultra-wideband H1 chip used in the latest iPhones,” Ian Fogg, vice president of analysis at UK-based research group Opensignal, told The National.

“An in-house search engine would also enable new 5G experiences for smartphones and future wearable devices such as smart glasses.”

Apple has reportedly renewed its efforts to roll out a search engine after its search partner Google has faced increased regulatory scrutiny this year.

Last month, the US Department of Justice filed an antitrust lawsuit against Google for "unlawfully maintaining the monopolies in the market” for online search and stifling competition in the process. It said the Alphabet-owned company accounted for nearly 90 per cent of all general search engine queries and almost 95 per cent of queries on mobile devices in the US as a result of its “exclusionary agreements and anti-competitive conduct”.

The DoJ estimated Google made annual payments between $8 billion and $12bn to Apple to be the iPhone’s default search engine.

But analysts estimate that Apple is perfectly capable of developing its own version of a search engine.

“Apple has the capability to rival Google … and is no stranger to developing in-house capabilities,” said Matthew Kendall, chief telecoms analyst at the Economist Intelligence Unit.

He said Apple has been quietly laying the groundwork to develop its own search engine over the last few years. This was evident "most pointedly through the appointment of John Giannandrea, Google's former head of search”, he said.

The iPhone maker appointed Mr Giannandrea as its senior vice president of machine learning and artificial intelligence strategy in April 2018.

“I am pretty sure that Apple will be working on their own search engine … they had a couple of hires recently that suggest they are moving fast in that field,” Abbas Ali, managing editor of TechRadar Middle East, told The National.

“It [Apple] is a company that loves to own every single part of the consumer experience, so if they can do it they will do it 100 per cent.”

Signs are also afoot that Apple is beefing up its existing search functions.

Apple recently added a new web search capability to iOS 14, its latest version of the iPhone operating system.

When iPhone users, with the latest iOS 14, type queries into the search tab that is accessed by swiping right from the home screen, Apple displays its own search results and links to websites instead of redirecting to Google.

Industry analysts said this new capability is the foundation of Apple’s efforts to have its own search engine and to challenge the dominance of Google in the long-run.

“Apple prefers to own the strategic technologies used in its products to enable it to innovate quickly without relying on its suppliers' ability to execute,” Mr Fogg said.

The tech giant has previously acquired companies whose products and teams have helped it to create numerous differentiated experiences and technologies, he added.

Last year, it acquired cellular modem technology from Intel which is likely to be used for future 5G devices. It has also built graphics processing units in-house that are now used in iPhones and iPads.

However, the current arrangement between Google and Apple benefits both parties. It boosts Apple's revenue streams while providing Google access to a significant number of global users.

“The DoJ recognises the benefits … hence the investigation … but both parties are likely to want to fight hard to keep their arrangement intact,” Mr Kendall said.

It would also take Apple years to develop a web-facing search engine with the kind of “sophistication and scale” that Google currently enjoys, analysts said.

Building a search engine today is "still technically very difficult but it's not as hard as it used to be", Bill Coughran, Google's former engineering chief, who is now a partner at Silicon Valley investor Sequoia Capital, told the FT.

“The amount of user data at Google's fingertips, which it can use to refine and fine-tune search algorithms, is not something that can be easily replicated for a newcomer - even one of Apple's technical and financial standing,” Mr Kendall said.

In July, Google Search accounted for 86.9 per cent of the global search market, while Bing and Yahoo! Search had a market share of 6.4 per cent and 2.8 per cent, respectively, according to Statista. Chinese search engine Baidu's market share was 0.68 per cent.

“We should keep in mind that creating a search engine is a massive undertaking … where players like Microsoft and Yahoo are [still] struggling against Google … it is definitely a challenging task,” Mr Ali said.

If a DoJ order revoking the Apple-Google agreement comes this year or in the next quarter, then Apple will not be ready with their own search engine and may have to switch to other players such as Microsoft or Yahoo, he added.