Google spends a large amount of money each year to become the default search engine on iOS. As this move comes under increasing scrutiny, the company is trying its best to get iPhone owners to use its apps. However, the company is reportedly struggling.
The business of being the go-to search engine on the iPhone is huge. Recent reports suggested that Google spent a whopping $20 billion to be the default search engine on iOS , a figure that’s likely increased since that 2022 data. But Google is also facing mounting antitrust pressure that threatens that arrangement.
According to a new report from The informationGoogle is working to increase the number of iPhone owners who use Google’s own apps in order to increase the number of searches that don’t rely on Google’s position as the default on Safari. Google has apparently succeeded in some There’s progress there: only 30% of Google searches on the iPhone come from the company’s own apps, down from around 25% five years ago.
Google reportedly aims to move 50% of iPhone searches to its own apps.
But the company is apparently struggling to increase that number. Google has found that it’s “simply too hard to overcome the fact that Safari comes pre-installed on Apple devices,” according to sources working on the project.
In order to push users into Google’s apps, the company reportedly briefly considered locking down AI-powered features like AI Overviews to its own apps, and not allowing them to appear in Safari. The report says that Google “has decided not to pursue that path.”
In a related effort, the report notes that Google was working on a project that would allow people to upload short videos, similar in style to TikTok or YouTube Shorts, to the Google app and have the videos appear directly in Search. However, the project struggled to get off the ground.
More on Google:
Follow Ben: Twitter/XWires and Instagram
FTC: We use income generating automatic affiliate links. More.