Apple rejected the possibility of buying Bing from Microsoft and integrating it into DuckDuckGo

CNN
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Since 2017, Apple has rejected numerous opportunities to undermine Google’s search engine dominance, including the possibility of buying Bing from Microsoft and making privacy-focused DuckDuckGo the default for users of Safari’s private browsing mode, according to recently unsealed court documents. . .

Secret recordings released this week by the judge presiding over the US government’s antitrust case against Google highlight the challenges faced by Google’s search rivals as they try to dislodge the tech giant from its top position as default search provider by Apple. on millions of iPhone and Mac devices. It’s a privilege for which Google pays Apple at least $10 billion a year.

Unpublicized testimony from DuckDuckGo CEO Gabriel Weinberg and Apple executive John Gianandria offers a glimpse into the kind of failed deals and backroom negotiations that helped Google maintain its lead as the world’s top search engine.

But it also shows how Apple struggled with the rise of Google and how some at Apple craved “optionalism.” Apple did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Gianandrea testified last month that Apple seriously considered a deal with Bing in 2018 after conversations between Apple CEO Tim Cook and Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella sparked a series of additional conversations between the two companies. (Last week, Nadella testified that he tried to persuade Apple to acquire Bing every year of his tenure as CEO.)

Apple insiders ultimately had four options for Cook: buy Bing outright; Invest in Bing and acquire an ownership stake in the search engine; working with Microsoft on a common search index that both companies could use; Or do nothing and continue with the Google partnership.

Meanwhile, Apple was actively working with DuckDuckGo on a proposal that would have made it the default search in Safari’s private mode, leaving Google as the default search in regular mode that logs user activity, Weinberg testified.

“We had the impression that they were really serious [it]Weinberg told the court last month, citing about 20 meetings and phone calls that DuckDuckGo had with Apple representatives, including some senior executives, about the matter from late 2017 to late 2019. The two companies discussed everything from product models to contract language; Apple even went so far as to send DuckDuckGo a draft contract with specific proposed revenue quotas.

“If we fall behind schedule [Safari] “According to our calculations at the time, private browsing mode would increase our market share many times over,” Weinberg said, according to the transcript. “Every time someone opens private browsing mode, we get exposure for our brand.”

However, Apple ultimately backed out of both potential deals.

Weinberg blamed the failure of the initiative on the Apple-Google deal, calling it the “elephant in the room” during his team’s multiple meetings with Apple. Similar negotiations with other browser and device makers, including Mozilla, Opera and Samsung, also fell through the Google deal, Weinberg claimed, leading DuckDuckGo to abandon efforts to improve browser positioning.

In his statement, Gianandria acknowledged that the relationship between Apple and Google could be affected by such a plan. Discussing a 2018 slide presentation for Cook and submitted to the court, Giannandrea said the slides suggested that even a joint venture with Bing “could put us in direct competition with Google,” which “maybe” eventually Google. The search will lead to a perfect deal with Apple.

Gianandrea opposed moving forward with the Bing deal, he said, particularly because Apple’s tests showed that Bing was inferior to Google in most cases, and that replacing Bing as the default option would not best serve Apple’s customers. He made a similar argument internally at DuckDuckGo, saying in an email that moving forward with the partnership was “probably a bad idea.” (DuckDuckGo licenses search results from Bing.)

However, Gianandrea testified that some at Apple believed that working with Bing could benefit Apple in some way. In a 2018 email filed behind closed doors, Adrian Perica, who leads Apple’s strategic investment and integration efforts, argued that working with Microsoft on search technology “will help the company grow and provide additional opportunities.” To create space for discussion to sustain. Takeover rate.” From Google and improving our website. Options to replace Google in the future.

Gianandria thought the proposal was “not a very viable idea” and in his statement dismissed Perikar’s thinking as the spit of a businessman.

Gianandria says Apple now has plenty of resources to build a true rival to Google. But as he wrote in a 2018 email, “that’s probably not the best way to differentiate our products” — a belief he said he still holds.