Apple could accept proposition amid “Holy War” with Google

Apr 17, 2014 07:04 GMT  ·  By

It’s no mystery that Apple and Google still have their “Holy War” unfolding, despite also sharing a bed together in iOS search. Yahoo thinks it can break them up. CEO Marissa Mayer has a bold plan to set the default iOS search engine to Yahoo, and some believe she stands a very good chance at succeeding.

Re/code has it on file from several sources that “the lodestone of two internal projects aimed at building a viable mobile search engine and monetization platform is to convince Apple to make Yahoo the default search engine on its Safari browser on the iPhone and iPad.”

CEO Marissa Mayer has prepared “detailed decks, including images of what such a search product would look like, and hopes to present them to Apple execs,” according to a number of Yahoo insiders.

The sources added that Mayer has already started to pitch the idea to Apple’s Industrial Designer and Human Interfaces Chief Jonathan Ive. The duo reportedly know each other well and have had many discussions in the past.

“This is the aim of the whole effort here, to grab the pole position in iOS search,” said one person working on the effort. “It will take more than pretty pictures, though, to convince Apple to give up Google, given its focus on consumer experience being top-notch. But Marissa wants it very badly.”

Mayer has many reasons to tackle not only search, but also video offerings and other things it can use to rival with Google. With Apple, she has a shot particularly because the two are still at odds over the Holy War declared by Steve Jobs to Google when Android rolled out looking like an iOS wannabe.

Re/code cites pundit M.G. Siegler on this particular issue:

“Apple is directly responsible for billions of dollars being sent Google’s way via search on its devices. This will only continue to increase. It’s believed that Google makes more money off of iOS devices through search than they do through Android devices. In other words, Apple is indirectly subsidizing a portion of the major war against itself. Yep.”

Yahoo’s only chance to replace Google as the default engine is this. Not video, apps, games, or user-friendly ads. The only reason to get on iPhone is to convince Apple that enough is enough.

However, Apple has been known to make such compromises for the sake of users’ experience. At the end of the day, it’s the customer who decides if he or she wants to look up cooking recipes or cat photos through a search engine that they’ve lost contact with a decade ago.