I don't think Apple would willingly switch from Google, but they need an alternative in the back pocket so they can't be held hostage if Google starts to make onerous demands (like quit the patent warring against Android) as conditions to renew the deal.
I've been trying out Bing for a month now and it's pretty much equivalent to Google for me. I search less and less on search engines already and what I do search for, Bing has been able to deliver. The only thing that made the transition difficult at first was the UI of the search pages on desktop. For mobile that won't really be an issue and I think Apple could easily default to Bing.
Losing iOS users to Bing/Yahoo would be terrible for Google just because of the demographics of iOS users. The Oracle trial revealed how much more Google earned from iOS than Android, and that probably hasn't changed much. Google is already experiencing margin compression because of the broader shift to computing on mobile devices, losing the most valuable users would only accelerate that.
"Oracle trial revealed how much more Google earned from iOS than Android, and that probably hasn't changed much."
I think those figures included maps revenue and were also from a time when Android devices were a smaller proportion of the smartphone market and the devices and OS much less good than recent ones so I suspect that they were used online much less. I strongly suspect that the situation has changed dramatically in that time.
If they want to remain in the search business then they definitely need their own search engine. Ever since they made the "partnership" with Bing, they've lost a lot of their market share to Bing, because people think "why not just use the original, instead of the clone?"
I don't know why Yahoo hasn't bought Blekko yet, which last I checked (a while ago) was better than DDG, for example. It probably won't even cost them that much.
Yahoo Mail is still by far the largest worldwide mail provider, counted by active users.
Moreover, in e.g. Japan, Yahoo is the start page of almost every PC, in addition to being the commonly used weather, maps, mail and news web pages.
One does really see everything through a very distorted lens from the own perspective.
yahoo is still far more relevant than one might think!
Keep in mind that Yahoo Japan is not wholly owned by Yahoo! Inc. Similar to its shares in Alibaba, The global company holds a minority stake in Yahoo JP (about ~35%, which puts it in second place on ownership [0]).
In the short term this seems unworkable - Google have a better product and, let's not forget, deeper pockets (being the default search provider being something Google pay handsomely for).
In the longer term I could see Apple quietly partnering with Yahoo! to see whether anything can be done - possibly something with product tweaks Apple might want which Google won't provide - but that feels 2 - 5 years away minimum.
There feels an implicit assumption here that Apple will do whatever it takes to shaft Google but that feels highly questionable - Apple and Google don't hate each other as much as is sometimes made out. Google happily support their apps on iOS because that aligns with their core mission - information gathering and indexing. Apple happily have Google's apps on iOS because that supports their core mission - a better experience for those using Apple products. Google is the default search provider on iOS and OS X. Google staff happily and openly use Macs. These aren't the actions of mortal enemies.
Even iOS vs. Android doesn't feel the thing it once was. Apple got the top of the market and the associated revenues and margins, Google got the rest of the market and the associated data and both have workable, seemingly sustainable ecosystems. Sure they probably both want more but for now they seem relatively content with what they have.
Apple has pretty high capital spending, but hasn't translated that into an ecosystem as attractive to customers of iPhone as Google's. Apple has easily got the money. What they need is a plausible plan to match the results Google gets from that effort.
Having a competitive search/geodata suite is such a high-value goal, I'm a bit surprised that none of the also-rans have been turned around and re-capitalized to really go after Google. Nor have any of the regional players to partnered-up for out-of-region expansion. With the exception of DuckDuckGo there's nobody competing on features.
So it makes sense for Yahoo to give this a try. Having killed their own search engine operations, they are going to have to be very clever about how to catch up.
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[ 2.9 ms ] story [ 51.2 ms ] threadEDIT: I like how this has been picked up by a fashion industry rag[1]. Great PR effort!
</snark>
[1] http://www.fashiontimes.com/articles/5151/20140417/yahoo-rep...
Losing iOS users to Bing/Yahoo would be terrible for Google just because of the demographics of iOS users. The Oracle trial revealed how much more Google earned from iOS than Android, and that probably hasn't changed much. Google is already experiencing margin compression because of the broader shift to computing on mobile devices, losing the most valuable users would only accelerate that.
Oracle trial didn't show that, that was made up figures
And, by the way, perhaps Bing is good in USA, but here in Europe is really bad compared to Google search
http://www.theguardian.com/technology/2012/mar/29/google-ear...
[1] http://marketingland.com/no-google-doesnt-make-four-times-mo...
Then you can link to that settlement and to those figures.
Until then, those figures where made up without any basis
We have different definitions of what "made up" is. The estimate The Guardian made was based on the court document which is linked to in the article.
Past damages were not a royalty percentage, 2.5 billion were not mobile revenue.
So, they made up their figures with wrong assumptions, wrong revenues and wrong damages
I think those figures included maps revenue and were also from a time when Android devices were a smaller proportion of the smartphone market and the devices and OS much less good than recent ones so I suspect that they were used online much less. I strongly suspect that the situation has changed dramatically in that time.
I don't know why Yahoo hasn't bought Blekko yet, which last I checked (a while ago) was better than DDG, for example. It probably won't even cost them that much.
Other than that, not really...
Moreover, in e.g. Japan, Yahoo is the start page of almost every PC, in addition to being the commonly used weather, maps, mail and news web pages. One does really see everything through a very distorted lens from the own perspective.
yahoo is still far more relevant than one might think!
[0] http://ir.yahoo.co.jp/en/holder/status.html
Maybe it's more palatable to IOS users since the "evil empire" is not involved directly?
In the longer term I could see Apple quietly partnering with Yahoo! to see whether anything can be done - possibly something with product tweaks Apple might want which Google won't provide - but that feels 2 - 5 years away minimum.
There feels an implicit assumption here that Apple will do whatever it takes to shaft Google but that feels highly questionable - Apple and Google don't hate each other as much as is sometimes made out. Google happily support their apps on iOS because that aligns with their core mission - information gathering and indexing. Apple happily have Google's apps on iOS because that supports their core mission - a better experience for those using Apple products. Google is the default search provider on iOS and OS X. Google staff happily and openly use Macs. These aren't the actions of mortal enemies.
Even iOS vs. Android doesn't feel the thing it once was. Apple got the top of the market and the associated revenues and margins, Google got the rest of the market and the associated data and both have workable, seemingly sustainable ecosystems. Sure they probably both want more but for now they seem relatively content with what they have.
Having a competitive search/geodata suite is such a high-value goal, I'm a bit surprised that none of the also-rans have been turned around and re-capitalized to really go after Google. Nor have any of the regional players to partnered-up for out-of-region expansion. With the exception of DuckDuckGo there's nobody competing on features.
So it makes sense for Yahoo to give this a try. Having killed their own search engine operations, they are going to have to be very clever about how to catch up.