Apple's map and search partnership with Google is due to expire in early 2015 which means that the Safari browser for iOS devices, such as the iPhone 6, could have a new default search engine.
That's what Google's competitors Yahoo and Microsoft hope. Both companies have apparently wasted no time in talking to Eddy Cue, Apple's Senior Vice President of Internet Software and Services, about replacing Google, according to a report by The Information.
It's no surprise that Yahoo and Microsoft are so keen to replace Google on Apple devices. Search engines are still a lucrative business, so being the default search engine on IOs and Mac devices would give Bing or Yahoo Search a boost they need in their struggle against Google's dominance.
A bad week for Google
Although Apple has yet to make a decision about whether or not to keep Google as the default search engine in Safari, Google has already had some bad news. Towards the end of November it became clear that Firefox had dumped Google in favour of Yahoo as its default search engine.
If Apple did dump Google it would be the culmination of years of increasingly strained relations between the two companies since Google launched Android, its competitor to iOS.
In 2013 Apple ditched Google in its virtual assistant Siri, which now uses Bing to search instead. Apple also famously switched from Google Maps to its own Apple Maps app and has removed the YouTube app from being installed by default on iOS devices.
Could Apple even launch its own search engine? Don't rule it out.
Via The Information
