Google is trying to attract iPhone users from Safari with its app

JAKARTA – Google continues to lure more iPhone users to its apps, a move that aims to reduce the potential impact if Google search engines lose their default status in Safari.

Google is paying Apple billions of dollars to keep Search as the default search engine in Safari. However, Google is now facing an antitrust lawsuit related to this practice. According to a recent report, the tech company is trying to prepare for the possibility of losing its default status by encouraging more iPhone users to use the Google app or Chrome for search.

Google and Apple have now reached a profit-sharing agreement to keep Google Search as the default search engine on mobile Safari. Judges presiding over the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) antitrust case are expected to make a decision in the coming months.

According to a report by The Information, Google is trying to protect itself from the potential consequences of losing the case by encouraging iPhone owners to use its app for search. So far, Google has managed to increase the number of searches done through its app from 25% to 30% over the past five years. However, Google’s goal is to have 50% of iPhone searches done through its app by 2030, and the company is struggling to get past 30%.

To entice iPhone owners to make the switch, Google has been highlighting exclusive features in Google apps like Lens in ads. It’s reported that executives even considered locking the AI ​​Overviews feature into their app alone, but ultimately decided against it.

This initiative by Google makes sense, especially considering that losing its position as the default search engine in Safari could cause the company to lose about 70% of searches conducted on the iPhone. Reducing its dependence on Safari will also reduce the amount Google has to pay Apple to become the default search engine. Failure to do so will also cost Apple, which made more than $20 billion (Rs 325 trillion) last year from its Google deal

Tag: google