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Ask HN: Should Apple buy DuckDuckGo?

19 points by nicklasss ↗ HN
Given Apple commitment to privacy, and sharing almost every service with Google (Maps, storage, browser, OS, etc.) except search and DuckDuckGo having a great momentum, this looks like an obvious step, what would stop Apple from doing that?

26 comments

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detaro
Given that DDG doesn't run their own full index (as far as I know), what would Apple gain? + I suspect many users would be wary of it being owned by any large player, even if it's Apple.

They also make a lot of money from Google providing the search.

teacpde
It doesn’t seem to be a good investment financially for Apple, sure privacy is good, but will DDG bring more people to Apple eco system? Probably not.
h1d
More like getting off of other's control.
keiferski
It would be better for Apple to develop their own search engine. I really, truly hope they are working on one.
rajacombinator
Apple definitely doesn’t have the competency to do this.
muzani
It's cheaper, faster, and often higher quality for them to acquire, unless DDG is setting too high a price on themselves.
gesman
Probably would make more sense for FB.

However I'd rather see DDG become strong player on it's own gradually crippling into GOOG domination to the benefits of all.

romanovcode
People who use DDG would drop it the moment they would hear about FB acquiring it. I don't see the point.
muzani
FB would be the worst, because they have the most privacy issues, plus that sour deal with WhatsApp. There's no overlap of target market at all.
jthomas2121
I personally don't want to see that, but who am I? I understand why these companies sell out to larger conglomerates, but it simply narrows the spectrum for regular users and as we've seen with Google, that doesn't add true value in the end.
madamelic
Apple Maps is a complete joke compared to Google Maps, especially when in a city.

Apple Maps is horrendous with navigation and is frequently out of date. For example, my partner was sent an address, they clicked the address and Apple Maps opened. After two hours of driving, we realized Apple Maps had silently changed the address slightly because it thought we were wrong.

We caught the error and tried to correct. Apple was insistent that the address didn't exist, while Google Maps happily did what we asked.

I uninstalled Apple Maps from my partner's phone.

---

All of this is to say: Apple is not competitive with Google in a lot of respects. Even in OS, they are different ideals and aren't interchangeable in my opinion.

pleinair7
If Apple wants to get into self-driving cars, they will need to enhance their mapping capabilities. Maps are really hard to implement because they require almost perfect accuracy. Any errors can lead to big problems. Google has invested enormous effort into its maps and Apple will need to get much better to be competitive.
stephenr
So what you're saying is - when a free mapping solution that goes to extraordinary lengths to protect your privacy. offered by a company that makes it's profits on tangible hardware made a mistake, instead of using the built-in 'report problem' feature, you chose to remove that app, and use a service offered by a company that literally makes its money by collecting unimaginable amounts of data about you, your family, what you do, where you work, what you eat what you buy, and where you were going on that journey?

Am I the only person who finds this insane?

cromiium
For some people it's about getting to the destination on time. Plus on the way there I don't think they were about to send a report ticket.
stephenr
Who said s/he had to report a ticket on the way to the location?

The only action reported (which also likely happened after that specific journey):

> I uninstalled Apple Maps from my partner's phone.

code_duck
That’s also a good way to describe DDG’s search quality vs. Google’s. I used DDG as my main search for over a year after discovering the setting in Safari. It was not pain-free as the result were never better, only about equal or clearly less useful. I overlooked it because I wanted to support something different and have a non-mainstream experience, which comes naturally to me as an Amiga and long-time desktop Linux user. Finally the last straw was out of date results, like a search pulling up an old version of a major company's website from 4 months ago that now 404’d, while Google had up-to-date results.
peburns
DDG's allure now is its independence. Acquisition by a FAANG would doom it almost immediately.

Stay the course.

codegladiator
DDG's allure is that it doesn't track you. Apple has a track record of investing into not tracking you, so IMO acquisition by FANG might be doom for it but acquisition by `A` wouldn't be.
abc-xyz
While Apple isn't as bad as the others, they're still morally bankrupt (e.g. supporting censorship, removing VPNs from the Chinese store, giving governments access to messages, email and other private stuff stored in the cloud). I sincerely hope (and believe) that DDG will never become evil like Apple.
onetimemanytime
In China all companies do this. Not having Apple there would not make things better for any freedom-loving Chinese, someone else would replace Apple and do exactly what the Gov wants.
r00fus
So Apple is morally bankrupt because they operate in China and obey Chinese laws for Chinese jurisdiction?
hotdox
After Apple Buys DDG, major search API providers can switch off access.
[dead] darmensdf
Well, nothing to stop doing this.
clubm8
I didn't realize DDG was for sale. Isn't the a bit presumptive of a question OP?
onetimemanytime
>>I didn't realize DDG was for sale

Everything is for sale...