Schmidt Resignation: Is Apple Building Apple Search Service?
By Tom Foremski - August 3, 2009
When the first iPhone came out two years ago I was astounded that there was no way to search its contents: Searching For Search On the iPhone
One year later, in 2008, after many updates to the software and new hardware: still no search function! It's taken another year to add search in the most recent update iPhone 3.0 in June. It's taken two years to add search.
That's not accidental it has to be deliberate. A year ago I wrote: Is Apple About To Launch Apple Search?
And it makes sense. It has its own browser and having its own search site makes perfect sense.
The browser and search service are essentially the operating system for our modern times. Apple knows all about owning the OS and that has been a winning strategy for Apple.
Take a look at how Apple would be able to quickly build a large search engine business:
1: The Apple fanboy market would leave Google in a heartbeat. No question. That's about 5 per cent of the computer market, and that's not counting the iPod, iPhone users.
2) All the users of Safari, the Apple web browser on Macs and Windows systems would be default users of Apple search.
3) Search is all about brand. Tests have shown little difference in the quality of search results between search engines. Microsoft rebranded its search service Bing and it now has traction. Apple knows "brand" very well and it knows how to parlay that expertise into new businesses.
Study: Good Brand Can Make Search Seem More Relevant
The study showed that when a searcher was given an identical result set across Google, Yahoo, Windows Live Search and an in house search engine, Google and Yahoo came out as more relevant. Why? Because of the brand of the search engine.
Despite the results pages being identical in content and presentation, participants indicated that Yahoo! and Google outperformed MSN Live Search and the in-house search engine.
http://www.pcworld.idg.com.au/index.php/id;229165979
One drawback for Apple is that GOOG pays Apple for placing its search engine in the search bar in Safari. Industry whispers report that this payment is enough to fund development of Mac OS X.
However, that revenue is jeopardized by Google's announcement of its Chrome browser, and also there is competition from Google's ChromeOS, and its Android cell phone software.
While the industry focuses on Microsoft and Google competition, Google and Apple are becoming ever more competitive with each other. That's why Eric Schmidt is leaving Apple's board of directors.
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Please see:
Since There Is No Objective Way To Gauge Search . . . Brand Will Win
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Comments (6)
My initial thoughts - before reading the article - were, "I don't think so."
However, now I see the possibilities.
Do you think Apple is secure enough in the value of it's brand to outsource Search, just like Yahoo just did to Bing?
They have done it before, re-branding Microsoft Exchange.
That choice, IMO, get them out running quickly.
Posted: August 3, 2009 6:15 PM
The iPhone does have a system wide search function - you get to it by swiping left of the home screen. Most of the built in apps (iPod, Mail) have search functions too...
Posted: August 4, 2009 1:53 AM
Is Apple able to launch a search service. In my opinion not, even if I would like to. The reason is, that I think it´s not only a brand thing. Search is a very special business. The algorithm to show the relevant information and find out, which are only sites to earn money, must be found. That´s an advantage of smaller search engines, because all the SEOs won´t focus on them at the moment.
And yes Nick, the iPhone has a search.
Jenni
Posted: August 4, 2009 5:53 AM
Is it true that search is all about brand? The few tests I have done on random words seem to indicate that Google is still ahead of the game when it comes to relevant search results.
That said, there is no doubt brand plays a significant role in winning loyal users, and Apple fans would flock to an Apple search engine. If that's truly the direction Apple are going, only time will tell, but you have certainly made a good case Tom.
Cheers
Kevin
Posted: August 4, 2009 7:25 AM
Nick: The iPhone search function was added very recently, it took Apple two years to add search and a copy/paste function.
Posted: August 4, 2009 11:10 AM
Kevin: It remains to be seen how much of a commodity search has become. Tests have shown that brand plays a large part in people's perception of quality. Which is an interesting finding because it can be easier to improve the perception of the quality of a brand than improve the product itself.
Posted: August 4, 2009 11:14 AM