Apple looks to advance search technology as officials investigate Google

Apple will reap the benefits of having its own internet 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 may 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 search technology after US anti-trust authorities commenced 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 the other day.

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

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

“[Google] Search is a crucial enabler for Apple devices that are increasingly using new wireless technologies to sense the world and offer services and content in response … including the ultra-wideband H1 chip found 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 permit new 5G experiences for smartphones and future wearable devices such as for example smart glasses.”

Apple has reportedly renewed its efforts to roll out search engines following its search partner Google has faced increased regulatory scrutiny this season.

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

The DoJ estimated Google made gross 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 search engines.

“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 internet search engine over the last few years. This is 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 confident that Apple will be focusing on their own internet search engine … they had a couple of hires recently that recommend they are moving fast for the reason that field,” Abbas Ali, managing editor of TechRadar Middle East, told The National.

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

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

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

When iPhone users, with the most recent iOS 14, type queries in to the search tab that is accessed by swiping from the house screen, Apple displays its own search results and links to websites rather than redirecting to Google.

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

“Apple prefers to possess the strategic technologies found in its products to allow it to innovate quickly without relying on its suppliers' capability to execute,” Mr Fogg said.

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

This past year, it acquired cellular modem technology from Intel which may very well be used for future 5G devices. It has additionally built graphics processing units in-house that are actually used in iPhones and iPads.

However, the existing arrangement between Google and Apple benefits both parties. It boosts Apple's income streams while providing Google access to a substantial 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 internet search engine with the sort of “sophistication and scale” that Google currently enjoys, analysts said.

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

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

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

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

If a DoJ order revoking the Apple-Google agreement comes this year or within the next quarter, then Apple will never be ready with their own internet search engine and may have to switch to other players such as for example Microsoft or Yahoo, he added.