UPDATED 03:53 EDT / SEPTEMBER 26 2017

APPS

Apple switches from Bing to Google for search on Siri web results and Spotlight on Mac

Apple Inc. announced Monday that it’s switching default search engines for Siri and Spotlight and is dropping Microsoft Corp.’s Bing in favor of Google Inc.

Google was already the default in Apple’s Safari web browser, but it will now also be the default for Siri web searches. For example, when Siri is unable to provide an answer to a question and needs to search the web, it will now be using Google rather than Bing to provide an answer.

In addition, Google is also now the default search engine for Search inside iOS, formerly called Spotlight, and Spotlight on the Mac. The change, according to Apple, is for there to be a more consistent experience across Siri, Search within iOS, Spotlight on Mac and Safari. The change comes a week after iOS 11 was released and the same day as the release of MacOS High Sierra.

It emerged last month that Alphabet Inc. was paying Apple billions of dollars to keep Google the default search engine on iPhones. According to A.M. Sacconaghi Jr., analyst at AllianceBernstein L.P., the payments to Apple could total more than $3 billion this year. In his estimation, this amount could account for 5 percent of Apple’s total operating profits for 2017.

Google continues to hold a dominant position in the search engine market, and with nearly 15 percent of phones using iOS worldwide, according to the International Data Corp., Apple’s switch could be very beneficial for the search engine giant. Google highlighted the important role of mobile search in earning $22.67 billion in advertising revenue in its second quarter.  

Bing, for the time being at least, will remain the default search engine for web image searches from Siri. “We value our relationship with Apple and look forward to continuing to partner with them in many ways, including on Bing Image Search in Siri, to provide the best experience possible for our customers,” a Microsoft spokesperson said in response to the shift to Google. “As we move forward, given our work to advance the field of AI, we’re confident that Bing will be at the forefront of providing a more intelligent search experience for our customers and partners.”

The news also comes the same day that Microsoft introduces a private preview of Bing for Business at the company’s Ignite enterprise conference. Bing for Business will augment search results with a company’s internal data.

Apple’s move to Google is rolling out globally to all iOS and Mac users.

Image: iphonedigital; Flickr

A message from John Furrier, co-founder of SiliconANGLE:

Your vote of support is important to us and it helps us keep the content FREE.

One click below supports our mission to provide free, deep, and relevant content.  

Join our community on YouTube

Join the community that includes more than 15,000 #CubeAlumni experts, including Amazon.com CEO Andy Jassy, Dell Technologies founder and CEO Michael Dell, Intel CEO Pat Gelsinger, and many more luminaries and experts.

“TheCUBE is an important partner to the industry. You guys really are a part of our events and we really appreciate you coming and I know people appreciate the content you create as well” – Andy Jassy

THANK YOU