Apple is likely to launch its own search engine to compete with Google
Apple and Google are the two dominant forces in the market today. The Cupertino behemoth may now compete with Google in an area where the latter is absolutely dominant, notably search. No other search engine comes close to Google’s dominance, but Apple might make things difficult for Google in the near future. According to rumours, Apple is expected to launch a new user-centric web search. On the other hand, Apple wants to wait until January 2023 to launch the search engine.
According to tech blogger Robert Scoble, Apple will introduce several things at WWDC 2023. Apple will, he believes, produce a search engine to compete with Google. This rumour isn’t new; Apple has already been linked to the launch of a search engine. “Oh, and there’ll be a new search engine.” Will Siri ever be “smart?” he wondered in a series of tweets.
Scoble told TechRadar that the information he shared on Twitter came from a mix of conversations with informants and deduction. He told the publication that WWDC 2022 would be the most expensive product launch ever. He also projected the launch of the search engine in January.
At WWDC, Apple is expected to announce iOS 16, iPad OS 16, watchOS 16, and macOS 13. In the next software release, the much-anticipated Always-On Display (AoD) technology is expected to be incorporated. Companies such as Samsung, OnePlus, and others are currently offering always-on displays. Apple is likely to have them in the iPhone 14 line-up, which will ship in September 2022.
The iPhone 14 Pro models are rumoured to have a 120Hz refresh rate, while the new versions will be able to alter the refresh rate between 1Hz and 120Hz, saving battery life. When the AoD feature is enabled, the refresh rate will automatically reduce to 1Hz.
Leaks from Insiders
Apple Pro predicts that the M2 MacBook Air and M2 Mac mini will be unveiled at WWDC. The M2 chip, which is the M1 chip, will power the devices. Apple was rumoured to be working on a new Mac mini with an M2 processor, the Mac Pro, and the MacBook Air 2022.
About Apple
Apple is a multinational technology firm headquartered in California, specialising in consumer devices, software, and online services. Apple is the world’s second most valuable company, the fourth-largest personal computer vendor by unit sales, and the second-largest mobile phone manufacturer, with a revenue of US$365.8 billion in 2021. It is the second-most valuable corporation globally, the fourth-largest personal computer provider by unit sales, and the second-largest mobile phone manufacturer as of May 2022.
On April 1, 1976, Steve Jobs, Steve Wozniak, and Ronald Wayne founded Apple Computer Company to manufacture and sell Wozniak’s Apple I personal computer. In 1977, Jobs and Wozniak founded Apple Computer, Inc., and the company’s next computer, the Apple II, became a popular seller. Apple went public in 1980 and became an instant financial success.
The company designed computers with innovative graphical user interfaces, like the original Macintosh, which was featured in Ridley Scott’s critically acclaimed film “1984”. By 1985, the excessive expense of its products and power disputes among executives had created issues. Jobs departed to start NeXT, bringing some Apple employees with him. Wozniak stepped down from Apple amicably.
As the personal computer market matured and changed in the 1990s, Apple lost market share to the lower-cost duopoly of the Microsoft Windows operating system on Intel-powered PC clones (also known as “Wintel”). In 1997, just weeks before declaring bankruptcy, the corporation bought NeXT in an attempt to remedy Apple’s failed operating system strategy and resurrect Jobs.
During the next decade, Jobs brought Apple back to profitability by introducing the iMac, iPod, iPhone, and iPad to critical acclaim, creating memorable advertising campaigns, founding the Apple Store retail chain, and acquiring other companies to extend the company’s product portfolio. Jobs was succeeded as CEO by Tim Cook when he resigned in 2011 due to health issues and died two months later.
In August 2018, Apple became the first publicly traded US corporation valued at more than $1 trillion, followed by $2 trillion in August 2020 and $3 trillion in January 2022. The corporation is occasionally chastised for its contractors’ labour policies, environmental practices, and corporate ethics, including anti-competitive practices and materials sourcing. Despite this, the corporation has a high level of brand loyalty and is considered one of the most valuable brands in the world.
About Google
Google LLC is a California-based global technology company focused on artificial intelligence, search engines, internet advertising, cloud computing, computer software, quantum computing, e-commerce, and consumer electronics. It has been dubbed the “most powerful corporation in the world” and one of the most valuable brands in the world due to its market dominance, data collection, and technological advantages in artificial intelligence. It is Big Five American IT business, alongside Amazon, Apple, Meta, and Microsoft.
Larry Page and Sergey Brin established Google on September 4, 1998, while still PhD students at Stanford University in California. They own around 14 per cent of the company’s publicly traded shares and control 56 per cent of stockholder voting power through super-voting stock. The company went public in 2004 through an initial public offering (IPO). In 2015, Google was reformed as an Alphabet Inc. wholly-owned subsidiary. Google, Alphabet’s most important subsidiary, acts as a holding company for the business’s Internet properties and interests. Sundar Pichai was chosen CEO of Google on October 24, 2015, following Larry Page, who became the CEO of Alphabet. On December 3, 2019, Pichai was named CEO of Alphabet.
Beyond Google Search, the company has rapidly expanded to offer a wide range of products and services, many of which dominate market positions. Email (Gmail), navigation (Maps), cloud computing (Cloud), web browsing (Chrome), video sharing (YouTube), productivity (Workspace), operating systems (Android), cloud storage (Drive), language translation (Translate), photo storage (Photo), Google+, Reader, Play Music, Nexus, Hangouts, and Inbox by Gmail are among the Google products that have been discontinued.
Google is known for its high-profile technology breakthroughs to resolve humanity’s most pressing issues. Quantum computers (Sycamore), self-driving cars (Waymo, formerly the Google self-driving project), smart cities (Sidewalk Labs), and transformer models are just a few of the breakthroughs (Google Brain).
The most popular websites are Google and YouTube, followed by Facebook and Twitter. According to market share, Google is also the world’s largest search engine, mapping and navigation app, email provider, office suite, video sharing platform, photo and cloud storage provider, mobile operating system, web browser, machine learning framework, and AI virtual assistant supplier. Forbes ranks Google second and Interbrand fourth on its most valuable brands list. It has been heavily chastised for privacy, tax evasion, censorship, search neutrality, antitrust, and abuse of its monopoly position.
Products and services
Search engine
Google indexes billions of online pages so that users may use keywords and operators to find the information they need. According to November 2009 comScore market data, Google Search is the most popular search engine in the US, with a market share of 65.6 per cent. Google launched a new “Personal” option in Google Search in May 2017, allowing users to search for material in their Google accounts’ various services, such as Gmail messages and photographs from Google Photos.
Google News, an automated tool that aggregates news articles from numerous websites, was established in 2002. Google also runs Google Books, a service that searches the text of books in its database and displays restricted previews or the entire book if permission is granted.
Advertising
The majority of Google’s revenue comes from advertising. This includes app sales, in-app purchases, Google and YouTube digital content goods, Android, licence, and service fees, including payments for Google Cloud offerings. Clicks (cost per click) accounted for 46% of this profit in 2017, totalling US$109,652 million. AdMob, AdSense, and DoubleClick AdExchange are the three main techniques.
Google employs technologies acquired from DoubleClick to project user interest and target ads to the search context and user history and its own algorithms for analysing search requests.
Google launched “AdSense for Mobile” in 2007, capitalising on the growing mobile advertising market.
Google Analytics allows website owners to track where and how visitors interact with their site by looking at click rates across all of a page’s links. In a two-part programme, Google adverts can be placed on third-party websites. Advertisers can use Google Ads to display their ads in the Google content network on a cost-per-click basis. Google AdSense, a sibling service, allows website owners to show these advertisements on their sites and earn money when people click on them.
One of the program’s critics is the prospect of click fraud, which occurs when someone or an automated script clicks on ads without being interested in the goods, causing the advertiser to overpay Google. According to industry figures from 2006, between 14 and 20% of clicks were false or incorrect. Webmasters can use Google Search Console (formerly Google Webmaster Tools) to monitor their website’s sitemap, crawl rate, and security issues and optimise their website’s exposure.
Consumer services
Web-based services
Google provides Gmail for email, Google Calendar for time management and scheduling, and Google+ for social media. Google Maps is used for mapping, navigation, and satellite images, and Google Drive is used for file storage in the cloud. For productivity, use Google Docs, Sheets, and Slides. Google Photos is used for photo storing and sharing. Google Keep is used for note-taking, Google Translate is used for language translation, YouTube is used for video viewing and sharing, Google My Business manages public business information, and Duo is used for social interaction.
Google Stadia, a cloud gaming service, was announced in March 2019. Since before 2017, there was a job search tool called Google for Jobs, which is an advanced search feature that aggregates postings from job boards and career sites.
Some Google services aren’t available online. With the advent of Google Earth in 2005, users were able to view high-definition satellite images worldwide for free using client software downloaded to their computers.
Software
Google creates the Android smartphone operating system and variants for smartwatches, televisions, cars, and Internet of Things-enabled smart devices.
It also creates the Google Chrome web browser and Chrome OS, a Chrome-based operating system.
Hardware
Google announced the Nexus One, the first Android phone under its brand, in January 2010. It produced several phones and tablets under the “Nexus” brand until it was phased out in 2016 and replaced by the Pixel brand.
The Chromebook, which runs on Chrome OS, was debuted in 2011.
Google released the Chromecast dongle in July 2013, allowing consumers to broadcast entertainment from their smartphones to their televisions.
Google unveiled Google Cardboard in June 2014, a basic cardboard viewer that allows users to view virtual reality (VR) video by placing their smartphone in an unique front compartment.
Enterprise services
Google Workspace is a monthly subscription service that gives organisations, and businesses access to various Google services, like Gmail, Google Drive and Docs, Google Sheets and Google Slides, administrative tools, unique domain names, and 24/7 support.
Google for Entrepreneurs was founded on September 24, 2012, as a primarily non-profit business incubator that provides companies with co-working spaces known as Campuses and helps startup founders in workshops, conferences, and mentorships. Berlin, London, Madrid, Seoul, So Paulo, Tel Aviv, and Warsaw are the current Campus locations.
Google Analytics 360 Suite, “a package of integrated data and marketing analytics products, developed expressly for the needs of enterprise-class marketers,” was introduced on March 15, 2016, and it can be linked with BigQuery on the Google Cloud Platform. The package is intended to assist “enterprise-class marketers” in “seeing the whole client journey,” “generating relevant insights,” and “delivering engaging experiences to the right individuals,” among other things. Jack Marshall of The Wall Street Journal wrote that the suite competes with companies’ existing marketing cloud offerings, including Adobe, Oracle, Salesforce, and IBM.
According to The Wall Street Journal’s Jack Marshall, the suite competes with Adobe, Oracle, Salesforce, and IBM’s existing marketing cloud services.
Internet services
Google Fiber was introduced in February 2010 as an experimental project with aspirations to establish a fast speed broadband network for 50,000 to 500,000 consumers in one or more American cities. Google Fiber was relocated to Alphabet’s Access business after Google’s organisational restructure to become Alphabet Inc., its parent company.
Google unveiled Project Fi, a mobile virtual network operator, in April 2015 to enable seamless access and fast Internet signal by combining Wi-Fi and cellular networks from various telecommunication carriers.
Why is Google the most popular search engine in the world?
1) Recognise the user’s desire and ability
Google’s success is attributed to the company’s goal and capacity to give higher-quality results for each user. Google has distinguished itself from the competition by recognising search intent and locating the most accurate and relevant links that match each query. Their entire business plan includes an emphasis on online satisfaction. Google gives easy-to-understand results. Users will be satisfied if the search results they receive are relevant to their search queries. Users who are pleased with their experience are more likely to return. Users who return to the platform develop a strong attachment to it.
2) Creating a strong sense of trust by delivering better results
Google has earned the reputation of being a reliable source for discovering information on the internet by providing better, more relevant results. As a result, users began to abandon MSN, Yahoo, Alta Vista, and other platforms favouring a search engine that provided timely, relevant search results. Google’s reputation has grown over time as a result of:
- Constantly updating their search algorithms
- Focusing on the user and their satisfaction
Because of the foregoing, Google has become a household name that everyone is familiar with. Most people now go through their days Googling at least one item.
3) Local Search: Matching Proximity to User Search Intent
Google took advantage of the fact that small companies are the backbone of the American economy. Users can get personalised, local results by combining search capabilities with proximity and geo-location targeting.
Local search levelled the playing field for all businesses, allowing them to be found for their products or services regardless of their distance from the user. Google gave customers better results based on their search intent and the geographic location of the search. Google has become the go-to platform for local searches due to these customised results.
After achieving this, Google went one step further by integrating local search results with the Google Maps platform. This allowed consumers to use their smartphones to navigate and explore local businesses. Google was and still can assist consumers in finding their way to any destination using this technology.
4) Algorithms and AI are constantly being tested and improved.
Google tests its search results regularly to update and adapt as consumers’ habits change. Google’s algorithm is a closely guarded secret that is regularly refined through human and machine learning studies. The ultimate goal is to improve search results. Many SEOs have attempted to game the system to rank higher in the SERPs by avoiding Google’s algorithm. While this may work in the near term, Google almost always proactively notices and penalises websites that employ black-hat strategies. This is Google’s approach to ensuring that results are not skewed and that users continue to trust them to deliver the best possible.
Is Apple’s Search Engine Capable of Beating Google?
In the world of search, no one is more well-known than Google.
Like Kleenex is to tissues, the brand is synonymous with searching. Most people’s first introduction to the internet is through Google, which controls 80-90 per cent of the search engine market. Many people dread a future dominated by Google’s whims; therefore, calls for legislation to restrict the search engine are rising.
However, rumour has it that Apple, the world’s most influential technology corporation, is working on a search engine. Indeed, if you own an iPhone, you’ve probably used Apple’s search engine.
Apple’s search engine, currently known as Spotlight, is built into every iPhone. With the addition of new features and algorithmic maturation, Spotlight is beginning to resemble the search engine we’re all familiar with today, with a few crucial distinctions.
Here’s how Spotlight works and why it might give Google a run for its money shortly.
What is Spotlight?
Grab the nearest iPhone. Swipe down from the home screen’s centre (or for some older systems, swipe left to right). Isn’t there a search box at the top of the page? What’s the source of the power?
Let’s try something else. Click the magnifying glass icon in the top-right corner of your top menu bar if you’re using a Mac. Voila! Spotlight has just started.
Since 2004, when it was first announced at an Apple Worldwide Developers Conference, Spotlight has been in development. When Tim Cook entered the stage to launch iOS 15 this past spring, it was mentioned again.
- Cook announced some of the most recent (and largest) changes to Spotlight, including improved accessibility and the ability to search for information on your favourite celebrities, bands, movies, and TV shows.
- Other features and benefits of Spotlight include: • The ability to search local files, texts, apps, and more in addition to web results • The ability to browse web results on your phone without having to go to Google •
- A “Siri Knowledge” feature that displays fragments of web pages right on your screen
- Access to Spotlight from both the lock screen and the unlocked screen of your phone with “Siri Suggest Web Results”, which features tailored search results
While Spotlight is still in its infancy, it generates a lot of buzz and rumours that it could be Google’s biggest competitor.
Google search vs Apple’s Spotlight search
There are numerous differences between Spotlight and Google when evaluated side by side. The following are some of the most notable distinctions that may be found nowadays.
Organic results
Google searches the internet for new or changed web pages using automated web crawlers. These URLs are then indexed and categorised into categories (which you may browse) depending on the material present on their pages, such as photos, maps, news articles, videos, and product listings.
The PageRank algorithm is Google’s “secret sauce.” To match web results with a user’s search, the algorithm employs more than 200 ranking variables and NLP and other AI technologies that forecast a user’s search intent. Each Google SERP is famous for customising the user’s geographical location, search history, browsing history, social connections, and other factors. Google may also display a Knowledge Graph (similar to Siri Knowledge) on the SERP that provides short solutions to frequently asked questions for selected searches.
Spotlight is a search mechanism that produces an index of all the files and metadata on your iPhone or Mac, depending on your selections. Spotlight’s “bots,” like Google’s crawlers, ingest basic information about a file (name, size, and dates) and some content and information on how that content is formatted. Its indices are updated regularly, guaranteeing that you see only the most current and relevant results.
Spotlight, unlike Google, isn’t confined to web results. Its technology looks for local, cloud-based, and web results. Another way, you can search everything from YouTube movies to your own images, Wikipedia articles to your text messages using Spotlight. In this regard, Spotlight’s SERPs are even more tailored than Google’s, but they can also get cluttered.
Ads
In 2021, it captured a 29% share of digital ad spending worldwide. Ads are prominently shown on Google SERPs’ top-of-the-fold placements, where 50 per cent of users aged 18 to 34 have difficulty distinguishing between an ad and an organic result.
Spotlight is notable for its lack of advertisements. Paid and organic results aren’t separated in the Spotlight SERPs. Instead, rankings are based on the gadget. What you already have stored on your device greatly influences the order in which results are shown. In other words, app developers do not have to pay Apple more to appear as a top result. To make their apps discoverable by Spotlight, they only need to add a few lines of code. (However, Apple still has work to do to improve the relevancy of results. According to a test done by 9to5Google, Google Assistant outperformed Siri in terms of understanding the whole meaning of a search.)
The user interface (UI)
Google has long influenced our perceptions of how a search engine should appear and function. Its basic UI has stayed unchanged for years, with little tweaks that only an SEO’s trained eye can see. In recent years, Google has experimented with nested feature snippets, indented URLs, and “short video” portions within SERPs.
It’s worth mentioning that while Google Chrome is the most popular desktop browser, Safari is the most popular mobile browser. On smaller screens, Safari has a more flexible user interface than Chrome.
There is a learning curve with Spotlight. Like everything else Apple-related, Spotlight can — and will — be swiftly understood with time and wider consumer acceptance. Apple is known for its experiences, after all. (In the meanwhile, Google has the advantage in terms of data collection volume.)
Spotlight’s biggest hurdle will be to declutter SERPs, as it delivers information from an extensive range of sources. Currently, you may have to scroll through several sections to identify the type of content you’re looking for (whether it’s a definition, app, text, image, or something else) before being able to filter for specific information. However, after you’ve found what you’re looking for, Spotlight allows you to accomplish various tasks with fewer clicks, including installing apps, visiting web pages, and accessing emails and other files right from Spotlight.
Privacy
Google has been chastised in the past for its tracking tactics, which are the backbone of its targeted advertising. Consider how, when you search for a new watch on Google, your friend on Instagram in another room can get an ad for the same item. Google uses the IP address and social graph to provide adverts to you and your friends, blurring more lines than many people are comfortable with.
Following a technical investigation of Google’s user tracking, Mozilla told Forbes, “Chrome is the only major browser that doesn’t offer substantial protection from tracking.” Even though Google offers incognito mode, a Vanderbuilt University investigation showed that the internet giant continues to collect user data, resulting in a $5 billion class-action lawsuit.
Apple has always been a strong supporter of customer privacy. Record App Activity, Mail Privacy Protection, and Improved Intelligent Tracking Prevention are just a few of the privacy enhancements included in iOS 15. These prohibit apps and advertising from tracking your location through pixels, IP tracking, and other techniques.
Similarly, Spotlight provides a more secure method of accessing online and local information. Apple maintains that they do not establish user profiles like traditional search engines, other than avoiding adverts and monetising information kept on your device. Spotlight never saves any user data on your device. Spotlight also makes an effort to steer consumers away from Google web results by collaborating with developers to create app data available in Spotlight, allowing you to search and access app content straight from Spotlight.
The final decision
At its core, Apple is a hardware company. Google’s talent is in search.
Google is sitting on a mountain of data. On the other hand, Apple is sitting on a bed of invention.
They aren’t and probably never will be direct competitors. However, as Apple develops its own method for conducting searches on Macs and iPhones, it will likely outperform in a few key areas, including privacy, interaction, and device cohesion.
Google is likely to struggle on the mobile front, especially if Apple restricts access to user data and uses its own search to give more tailored results. This raises the question of what will happen next. For that response, everyone is waiting for the launch of Apple’s search engine.
