Apple Weighed, Then Discarded the Idea of Transitioning to DuckDuckGo Instead of Google
Apple Inc. reportedly engaged in discussions with DuckDuckGo to potentially replace Google, owned by Alphabet Inc., as the default search engine for Safari browser’s private mode. This development was disclosed by Bloomberg News, citing sources familiar with the matter.
The specifics of these discussions are expected to be disclosed later this week. This revelation comes after Judge Amit Mehta, who presides over a federal antitrust lawsuit against Google, ruled to unseal the testimonies of DuckDuckGo’s CEO, Gabriel Weinberg, and Apple executive John Giannandrea.
According to the report, the details of potential agreements between Microsoft and Apple, as well as DuckDuckGo and Apple, will also be made public. Judge Mehta’s decision to unseal these records was outlined in an order issued from the bench.
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In recent developments, the U.S. Department of Justice conducted a landmark trial in which it argued that Google, with its dominant 90% share of the search market, had engaged in illegal practices by annually paying approximately $10 billion to smartphone manufacturers like Apple and wireless carriers such as AT&T. This payment ensured that Google remained the default search engine on their devices, allowing it to maintain its market dominance.
Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella testified during the trial, emphasizing that major tech companies were competing vigorously to acquire substantial amounts of content necessary for training artificial intelligence systems. He voiced concerns that Google had secured exclusive and costly deals with publishers, effectively locking up valuable content.
Nadella also revealed that Microsoft had previously attempted to establish its Bing search engine as the default on Apple smartphones, but this effort had been met with rejection.
