“Implicit in the WWDC keynote this week is Apple’s effort to reduce reliance on Google for search, and to answer the complaints about the lack of features by those who have adopted the Android platform,” Gene Steinberg writes for The Tech Night Owl. “The most blatant example of the former was putting Bing search in Spotlight. The trend had started with Siri, and it’s clear Apple and Microsoft are working more closely together than ever nowadays.”
“Adding DuckDuckGo, a search engine that promises not to track you, as another option under OS X, must further dilute Google’s prospects. Sure, if Google remains the default when OS X Yosemite is released, and previous defaults settings would likely be retained, that will still give the world’s number one search engine the upper hand, but in an environment where there’s more to lose,” Steinberg writes. “In passing, I wonder why Apple doesn’t just buy DuckDuckGo, though that might cause a political problem with Microsoft. But the price has to be real cheap.”
“In any case, the message is clear. Besides, Siri is already using Bing, so Google has been out of the picture there for a while. Indeed, Google reportedly earns more money via the Apple connection than from Android, so this has to be an ongoing problem for them,” Steinberg writes. “Beyond search engines, Apple’s new posture of opening up iOS to more third-party opportunities goes far to eliminate the features that many may prefer on Android [customizable keyboards, for just one example]… The other reason Android users may prefer their gear is that the screens are larger, sometimes much larger, than an iPhone. But that state of affairs is widely expected to change with the iPhone 6, which may come in 4.7-inch and 5.5-inch versions. That appears to leave Android users with fewer excuses not to jump ship…”
Much more in the full article here.
Related articles:
Apple drops Google for Bing as iOS, OS X default Spotlight search engine – June 4, 2014
Tim Cook blasts Android as Apple’s iOS takes users away from Google – June 3, 2014
Android users poorer, shorter, unhealthier, less educated, far less charitable than Apple iPhone users – November 13, 2013
IDC data shows two thirds of Android’s 81% smartphone share are cheap junk phones – November 13, 2013
Apple Maps makes killer comeback as Google Maps loses access to world’s most desirable mobile customers – November 12, 2013
Android phones 3 times more likely than Apple iPhones to have been bought at discount store – August 22, 2013
CIRP: Apple iPhone users are younger, richer, and better educated than those who settle for Samsung knockoff phones – August 19, 2013
Twitter heat map shows iPhone use by the affluent, Android by the poor – June 20, 2013
Yankee Group: iPhone ownership in the U.S. will top Android by 2015 – April 26, 2013
Duck duck go all the way baby!
agreed – love DDG
I like it to, there is an small problem with the listing with DDG. Some time i find the targeted search on 10th page. Don’t get me wrong I hate google. I hate Gmail, Youtube etc. In my house its banned to use google even for the guests.
Actually, what I miss when using the DDG search option (in Firefox, anyway) is that it does not function as a calculator. They need to add that. Otherwise, I’ve been giving DDG a lot of use.
It does, just not inside the Firefox search box directly. If you enter an equation in the search field and hit ENTER, you’ll get the result as the first response.
Isn’t the calculator app handy enough? Just curious.
pCalc all the way!
If I need to calculate something quickly, I just use Spotlight.
1) COMMAND-SPACE
2) type equation
3) see results
4) optionally use COMMAND-C to copy results into your clipboard to paste elsewhere
http://osxdaily.com/2009/11/04/use-spotlight-as-a-calculator/
http://hints.macworld.com/article.php?story=20101021142527546
This might be the most useful of suggestions. I have stopped using spotlight so long ago, but maybe I need to retrain myself to use it.
Thank you for bringing this up, Darrell. I do want to make a small correction…
Strictly speaking, an equation is a statement expressing a relation (equality) between two mathematical expressions. Beyond its truth or falsity, there is nothing to evaluate.
I think what you mean is (2) type mathematical expression. An expression like 3+4 spurs Spotlight to operate the calculator for you.
Apple give em a swift kick in the nether regions
However you may want it so, there is no dethroning Google in search because they are actually the definition of search.
…like Altavista was before it…
When a brand becomes part of the lexicon, it eventually ends up diluting it. “Google” used to be a destination to perform a search, it basically has changed to just meaning “web search”, which applies to all search engines.
Kleenex -> tissue
No one cares whether they get an actually Kleenex, they just want something to blow their nose with.
And when Google falls into irrelevance, people will talk about about pervert googling little girls
It’s not all or nothing. Apple doesn’t need to “dethrone” Google – or to even attempt to. They are already making serious inroads – and thereby making search more useful – and will continue to supplant Google more and more, on the Mac and iOS platforms.
But it is total war. Gene draws an unstated analogy with D-day, June 6, 1944, the allied invasion of Normandy that was a direct assault on totalitarianism. Their eventual triumph to make the world safe for democracy can not countenance passively turning everything personal over to Google and similar suction vampires in exchange for discounts on cosmetics. Better to cauterise the canker sore than allow it to fester.
Google’s search engine has devolved. Ads are listed first. And their advertisers are given preference in the order listed. Many times you can’t find the item at all if it’s not provided by one of their advertisers. The Shopping function now doesn’t find you the cheapest prices. Google has out-slicked themselves. Bing isn’t much better, Yahoo either. Unfortunately those three are the only choices in iOS Safari. It’d be nice if Apple would allow you to put whatever search engine you want in the Safari settings. Maybe that day is coming.
First page has become useless with Google search.
When I google face cream, I get a page with 15 prominent, thinly disguised ads and 10 links that may be ads in sheep’s clothing. Better to walk into Nordstrom.
You can get DDG as a extension in Safari.
OSX.
Yahoo uses Bing as its search engine. There is talk of changing that, but for now the Big Three is really just two.
Why are there so many delusional people on here? DDG does not have anywhere the capabilities of the big 3 and when they do catch they too will have a marketing Pay to Play program for folks who want their site to come up in the top 10. Some of you on here really need help.
Because DDG has the potential to be something big. I am more of a Yahoo type of guy, but I can see the appeal of DDG. They don’t sell your search info, they don’t make rip-off iPhones, they don’t put ads everywhere…it’s the perfect search engine. I’d love to see what a DDG web browser would be like.
Not delusional, just personal privacy paranoid. Me? Not so much. However you did hit on the most likely reason that Apple doesn’t buy DDG. No easy way to monetize the service. I agree that the search results as DDG presents them are a little less usable than Google or Bing.