Apple is ditching Bing in favor of Google. While Bing will still power Image Search in Siri, everything else will now be handled by Google. Microsoft has been keen to point out how popular Bing is of late, but this will be a blow to Bing’s reputation. If Bing actually had a reputation to begin with.
Google is the big daddy when it comes to online search engines. There isn’t really any serious competition. Bing is surprisingly popular in some quarters, but most people use Google at any and every opportunity. And now, thanks to Apple ditching Bing, even Siri will be powered by Google.
Siri Cheats on Bing With Google
Starting today, Google will power all web searches made through Siri, on Search Inside iOS, and Spotlight on the Mac. All three of these have, until now, been powered by Bing. The only part Microsoft will play moving forward is in providing Image Search in Siri. Which is the booby prize.
So Apple is almost entirely ditching Bing in favor of Google. This is possibly in an effort to provide consistency across all devices. However, it could also be a condition of Google paying Apple $3 billion to remain its default search provider. We suspect it’s probably a combination of the two.
Apple issued a statement saying, “Switching to Google as the web search provider for Siri, Search within iOS and Spotlight on Mac will allow these services to have a consistent web search experience with the default in Safari. We have strong relationships with Google and Microsoft and remain committed to delivering the best user experience possible.”
Microsoft responded by stating, “We value our relationship with Apple and look forward to continuing to partner with them in many ways, including on Bing Image Search in Siri, to provide the best experience possible for our customers […] We’re confident that Bing will be at the forefront of providing a more intelligent search experience for our customers and partners.”
Apple Takes the Money and Runs
I feel kinda bad for Microsoft. Bing is an incredibly powerful search engine that is arguably just as good as Google. Unfortunately for Microsoft, Google is willing to pay to remain the default search engine across the Apple ecosystem. And Apple is more than happy to take the money and run.
Do you currently use Google or Bing when searching the web? Which of the two do you feel produces better results? Are you pleased that Apple has ditched Bing in favor of Google? Or did you like the fact that Siri was powered by Bing? Please let us know in the comments below!
Idoko Enenche
October 3, 2018