Microsoft Considered Selling Bing to Apple in 2020

Back in 2020, Microsoft considered selling its Bing search engine to Apple, reports Bloomberg. Had the acquisition happened, Bing would have replaced Google as the default search engine on Apple devices.

microsoft bing chatgpt
Microsoft executives met up with Apple services chief Eddy Cue to discuss a potential deal, but the talks were just exploratory and did not progress. According to Bloomberg, Apple did not move forward with a deal because of the money that it earns from Google and because it was concerned that Bing could not compete with Google in "quality and capabilities."

Google's search engine has long been the default search engine on the iPhone, iPad, and Mac, and Google pays Apple billions of dollars per year for the privilege. Google and Apple last inked a deal in 2021, facilitated by Cue, and as of 2020, Apple was collecting $4 billion and $7 billion annually from Google. The Apple/Google deal has been under scrutiny this week due to the antitrust trial between Google and the U.S Department of Justice, with the DoJ pointing toward Google's dominance on Apple devices as evidence that Google has a search engine monopoly.

‌Eddy Cue‌ this week had to testify in the trial, and he explained why Google is the ‌iPhone‌'s default search engine. "We make Google be the default search engine because we've always thought it was the best," Cue said. He went on to say that Apple has not gone with another search engine provider because there is no "valid alternative."

While Google is the default search engine on Apple devices, users can choose to swap to Yahoo, Bing, DuckDuckGo, or Ecosia as an alternative. Bing has recently become a more popular search engine option thanks to Microsoft's partnership with OpenAI and the integration of chatbot technology.

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Top Rated Comments

phill85 Avatar
24 months ago
I switched to DuckDuckGo. Not google and works just as great
Score: 27 Votes (Like | Disagree)
kiensoy Avatar
24 months ago
Then Apple could've had Bing and Ping!
Score: 11 Votes (Like | Disagree)
swingerofbirch Avatar
24 months ago

"We make Google be the default search engine because we've always thought it was the best,"
Didn't stop them from pushing Apple Maps when it was still half-baked.
Score: 11 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Doomtomb Avatar
24 months ago
The real reason Apple doesn't have its own search engine is its more lucrative to lease it out to Google.
Score: 10 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Darmok N Jalad Avatar
24 months ago
gosh, can you imagine Windows without Bing? So many less distractions.
Score: 9 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Fuzzball84 Avatar
24 months ago
I’ve been a user of Bing since 2010 and I’m a very happy user. Seeing it improve massively over this time has been a joy. I’ve picked up some pretty decent backgrounds along the way too.

I’m glad to see competitors of Google do well.
Score: 6 Votes (Like | Disagree)