In 2018, Apple held talks with DuckDuckGo to replace Google as the default search engine in private browsing mode, but ultimately rejected the idea. This information was shared in texts related to the antitrust case brought by the US government against Google.
Is there a Google monopoly or not?
In depositions that are part of the process, DuckDuckGo CEO Gabriel Weinberg said his company held about 20 meetings and phone calls with Apple executives, including the person responsible for Safari, in 2018 and 2019 to understand what the potential was. Make this search engine integrated with Safari to use it in private browsing mode.
According to the BloombergApple did not move forward with the agreement because John GiannandreaHe, who joined Apple as a search engineer in 2018, posited that since DuckDuckGo relies on Bing for its search information, it also likely provides Microsoft with some user information.
This led Giannandrea to believe that... DuckDuckGo's privacy marketing 'a bit disproportionate with details'.
In a February 2019 email to other Apple executives, Giannandrea said switching to DuckDuckGo for private browsing in Safari "is probably a bad idea."
If Apple seriously wanted to switch to DuckDuckGo, "I would probably insist on doing more due diligence with DuckDuckGo," he said.
DuckDuckGo and the millions that Google pays Apple
The trial is taking place between the US Department of Justice and Google, with the Justice Department citing Google's dominance over Apple devices as evidence of Google's monopoly over search engines.
One A multi-billion dollar deal between Apple and Google Makes Google the default search engine on iPhone, iPad, and Mac.
Last week, the trial revealed that Microsoft had considered selling its Bing search engine to Apple. If the acquisition is completed, Bing could have replaced Google as a search engine Default on Apple devices.
Apple's head of services, Eddy Cue, also had to testify and explain why Google is the default search engine for the iPhone.
We made Google the default search engine because we always thought it was the best.
Cue said.
He went on to say that Apple did not choose another search engine vendor because “there is no viable alternative.”
Although Google is the default search engine on Apple devices, users can choose to switch to Yahoo, Bing, DuckDuckGo, or Ecosia as an alternative.
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