Anyone hoping to reach Apple’s passionate fanbase through search engine marketing may need to change their approach in the near future, as rumours indicate that the next version of the iPhone OS may see Google replaced by Microsoft’s bing.
Speculation over a change to the search deal between Google and Apple has been rife for some time. The two companies have squabbled over how Apple manages its app store, Google’s development of the Android operating system – which powers nearly all iPhone competitors – as well as its entry into the smartphone market with the Nexus One device.
These disagreements meant that when Business Week reported that Microsoft were in talks with Apple to take over from Google as the default search provider for the iPhone in January, many people felt that the change to Bing was likely.
Subsequent reports by Apple Insider citing an anonymous source made this change seem less likely. The report claimed that Google paid Apple more than $100 million a year as part of its revenue sharing deal, which sees Google’s services act as the native provider for both Search and the iPhone’s maps application.
Now though TechCrunch reports that “multiple sources, including a high level source who claims to have been briefed on the matter” believe that when Apple updates the iPhone operating system this month, Bing will no longer need a downloaded app to power search on Apple’s mobile device – it will have replaced Google as the native provider.
According to the blog’s Michael Arrington, “sources close to Google in particular are speaking freely about this as fact”. However an update to the story on Tech Crunch suggests that Google search will not be removed from the iPhone this month, as new sources say “it’s more complicated than this”. These sources also indicate that Google’s search rights deal is worth far less than $100m a year to Apple.
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