“Apple is not building a web search engine — yet, that I know of,” Dan Frommer writes for SplatF. “But through its new, voice-controlled mobile ‘Assistant’ feature in iOS 5, Apple could change the way people think of searching, building search-and-retrieve directly into the iOS user interface.”
“The important idea is that Apple is getting between you and Google in your mobile searches, by teaching you a new behavior,” Frommer writes. “Apple can then route those search queries and results however it wants — to Google, directly into iOS apps, to mobile websites, to Apple services, to iTunes, etc. Google doesn’t need to necessarily play a role. And that’s potentially dangerous to Google, which still gets the vast majority of its profits from search advertising.”
Frommer writes, “It’s also another reason why Android is actually very important to Google.”
Read more in the full article here.
Good points.
Big Brother.
Are you paranoid enough? Let your paranoia really sink in and take over your life.
The iPhone has always had three switch settings: “Ring”, “Vibrate” and “Disrupt”…
great comment!
Considering that Google quite literally stabbed Apple in the back by planting a mole in the Apple boardroom, I’m surprised that Apple hasn’t already replaced Google search on the iPhone and iPad.
Corporate politics shouldn’t trump consumer choice (especially since Google is still arguably the best search service).
Apple will eventually change the default from Google to someone else. But that doesn’t mean that you won’t be able to modify the setup. Don’t buy into the FUD before the product arrives. It spoils the fun.
Google pays Apple a lot — some say $1Billion/year, but the actual figure is not public — to direct searches to Google.
Similarly, Apple also pays Google for higher search rankings and Ads directing towards Apple for Apple’s own and other related products.
Unless Steve Jobs were the physical embodiment of Apple and Schmidt physically plunged a real knife into Jobs’ back, it’s still “figuratively” no matter how you slice it.
Back on topic, what’s your preferred alternative for search? Bing? Yahoo? Neither are as good, and Apple should not compromise by going with second best just because of corporate politics.
Google schmoogle.
Apple is about to eat googles lunch. It will just be table scraps for Eric T Mole & co from now on.
Just introduce/restore a natural behaviour pattern of how humans search/explore and expect to view/find the results, Apple. Something that will seem so fundamental and “non-computing” like, that it will make Google search seem inelegant, mechanical, outdated, cumbersome and, thereby, unnecessary in a stark comparison.
IOW: Don’t compete, don’t kill, just make it unnecessary and joyfully replaceable.
Only a matter or time til Apple takes Google down … but that’s if the fed’s anti-trust agents or the patent courts don’t do it first.
Google has made a ton of enemies on its way up. It’s best friend is Verizon, which will turn on it in a heartbeat for the right price.
If google thinks disintermediating is bad, wait’ll Apple starts misantidisestablishmentarianisimificationalizationalisming their a$$e$!!!
You must, of course, be talking talking in terms of “going forward”!?
I’m sure I pissed myself. absolutely brilliant!
This is sounding a bit to me like the ol’ Sherlock app on Mac OS 9 and X (past releases). I’m not sure the “natural language/aggregation/intermediary” approach will work better this time than before. I guess we’ll find out soon enough.
Why would you think that this isn’t likely to be a big advancemnt in capability since Sherlock?
I use Dragon’s apps all the time on my phone. Integrating that accurate of a service throughout iOS will be fantastic.
Great article. Makes great points that were not immediately obvious. And with huge implications.
If “Android is actually very important to Google,” then they are in trouble. Google is massively in the red with Android if you count development costs, legal costs, OEM support, advertising, the Moto acquisition, and all the time spent plagiarizing. Break-even is a very distant fantasy, and if Apple starts eroding their search profits, Google will have to rethink their business.
Well hurry up. I’m super-grumpy about the way Google’s search works these days. Every search I do throws up 20 meta-sites (consolidator sites, or what I call “para-sites”) for every “real” site. Do a search for “hotel, sydney” and you’ll see what I mean. Results choked by rental cars, travel insurance, hotels in Timbuktu and more. All because those bastards pay money to google.
I agree with you. Google search is a pain in the ass and a waste of time. Yahoo and Bing are nothing great. It seems time for a better more accurate more targeted way.
I believe Google did rethink their business. Hence, Android. However, so has Apple and their business model is now to go after Googles “Ice Cream Sandwich”.
I think its all great sounding “on paper” but after your voice is converted into a search query where exactly does that data go? Probably to google.
Apparently search is a complex affair cause no one has been able to even dent these guys in that market (at least) in the US.
You’ve.got various no names out there and then MS dumping half a billion plus into Bing which will be a chopping block target once MS sees a revenue drop which is likely to come with their inability to respond to apple in multiple markets.
The only company i can think of who could possibly beat google at search is baidu out of china and i hope that never happens.
Personally id just be happy at this point that an american company dominates the search market and is employing thousands of americans while doing it.
The search query can go to a specific app on your phone or direvtly to a dedicated website depending what you’re searching.
I’ll give you an example. The other day I was cooking and I couldnt find my table spoon so I Google’d how many teaspoons in a table spoon. If I was using a phone that could search that for me, it would just send my query directly to wolfram alpha, bypassing Google. Wolfram alpha is great at mathematical and statistical facts like that.
If I wanted to find a place to eat, it can send the request right to Yelp.
If I want to know what actor was in such and such a movie it can send the request right to IMDB.
The list goes on. Some things it will send to Google still, but if even half of my searches, and everyone else’s searches, can bypass Google, that’s bad for them.