If you currently search Safari using the address bar, it will automatically be sent to Google. Google pays Apple billions of dollars a year to set Google Search as the default search engine in the Apple eco-system.
However, for several years there have been rumours that Apple is working on its search engine, which is intended to replace Google search on the Apple platforms gradually.
Four years ago, Apple acquired the company Laserlike, which also dealt with optimising search results using artificial intelligence. The three founders, Anand Shukla, Srinivasan Venkatachary and Steven Baker, all former Google employees, joined Apple after the acquisition.
But as TheInformation reports, all three employees have left the group and switched back to Google — a severe blow for Apple. Apple probably bought the company not so much because of the technologies it developed but rather because of the founders and employees.
As per the sources, Apple is still working on its search engine, but concrete results of the project cannot be expected in the coming years — due to the leaving of the three crucial employees and the complexity. It would take at least four more years before Apple could launch its search engine.
Of course, it is not certain in what form Apple will offer a search engine and whether this will be like Google Search or accessible directly in the browser or only on Apple devices. Apple’s newly won interest in selling advertising in the App Store could, of course, also affect the upcoming search engine — Google’s main source of income is advertisements, which are found directly between the search results — and Apple could open up another source of income with its search engine.
