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Google Paid Apple $1B to Keep Search Bar on iPhone

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Re: Google Paid Apple $1B to Keep Search Bar on iPhone

#51

Post by artimaeis »

kuschku wrote: post #46
ck425 wrote: post #22

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't use an iPhone so have to ask, can users not select the search engine they want to use? Oneplus tried to change the default search on their phones to Bing and the first thing I did was switch back to Google.

On iOS — in contrast to Android — you can actually change the default search provider, yes. (On Android you can't change it at all. And so I'm either stuck with a Google search on the Recents menu, or the "this widget could not be found" message)

If you're talking about within the Chrome app on Android then, unless something changed in Marshmallow, you can totally change the default search provider. Chrome > Menu > Settings > Search Engine allows you to change the default search engine in the browser, but you can't add new ones to their list, so it is a limited set of options available.

If you're talking about at the Google Now or Siri then as far as I know that's not possible on either OS.

Re: Google Paid Apple $1B to Keep Search Bar on iPhone

#52

Post by softawre »

meepers wrote: post #18
partiallypro wrote: post #5

Bing powers Siri, and I assume now powers all of the internet search functions (unsure about Safari.) So I wonder if Microsoft paid this amount, or if Apple decided that less money made more sense so they could harm their competitor?

you can also explicitly request Siri to search Google, and it will. you just have to ask, "Search Google XYZ" instead of "Search for XYZ."

Heh, you made me realize I use "Google" as a synonym for search. "Google foo".

Re: Google Paid Apple $1B to Keep Search Bar on iPhone

#53

Post by tjl »

lmm wrote: post #30
Animats wrote: post #11

Google also used to pay Mozilla to be the search engine there, until Yahoo outbid them. It's amazing that Google search, which is quite useful, has negative market value as content. In the cable TV world, there are channels cable systems pay to carry, such as ESPN, and channels that pay to be carried, such as the Jewelry Channel. How did Google end up in the latter category?

Because Google are an advertising company. The company that we call Google is also the heir of Doubleclick.

Google owns Doubleclick.

Re: Google Paid Apple $1B to Keep Search Bar on iPhone

#55

Post by wodenokoto »

babuskov wrote: post #40
wodenokoto wrote: post #33

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't agree. An iPhone without search is a really poor smartphone. An iPhone without Kik is not a poor smartphone. Few people consider yahoo or bing search comparable in quality to google. So what parent finds odd, is that Apple is asking the best in class to pay them, to improve their product.

Many people don't consider search quality at all and just use what's served to them. I understand that someone reading HN would find that hard to believe, but when I look at some people around me who are not working in tech - many wouldn't be able to tell difference between Bing and Google search results. All they know is they can type/say a query and get the site they are looking for. The only time they would start…

You are right that most people wouldn't know which search is better, but to say they don't care about the quality is ridiculous.

Maybe today Bing and Yahoo are competitive, but back when the iPhone was released, it was quite different.

Re: Google Paid Apple $1B to Keep Search Bar on iPhone

#56

Post by petra »

caskance wrote: post #47
Ntrails wrote: post #27

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Until the default changes and those of us who don't like change will learn to make the effort to revert back. I have no idea if google is actually a better search engine, just that it's a familiar one.

For most searches the average person does - aka I want to go to the wikipedia page or official site for X - the results are indistinguishable.

That's not a good measuring stick. Probably even before Google existed search engines we're good at those kinds of searches. But people use search for much more than that.

Re: Google Paid Apple $1B to Keep Search Bar on iPhone

#57

Post by cust0m »

artimaeis wrote: post #51
kuschku wrote: post #46

Earlier quoted context omitted.

On iOS — in contrast to Android — you can actually change the default search provider, yes. (On Android you can't change it at all. And so I'm either stuck with a Google search on the Recents menu, or the "this widget could not be found" message)

If you're talking about within the Chrome app on Android then, unless something changed in Marshmallow, you can totally change the default search provider. Chrome > Menu > Settings > Search Engine allows you to change the default search engine in the browser, but you can't add new ones to their list, so it is a limited set of options available. If you're talking about at the Google Now or Siri then as far as I know t…

you can change the default search provider in siri

Re: Google Paid Apple $1B to Keep Search Bar on iPhone

#58

Post by _delirium »

artimaeis wrote: post #51
kuschku wrote: post #46

Earlier quoted context omitted.

On iOS — in contrast to Android — you can actually change the default search provider, yes. (On Android you can't change it at all. And so I'm either stuck with a Google search on the Recents menu, or the "this widget could not be found" message)

If you're talking about within the Chrome app on Android then, unless something changed in Marshmallow, you can totally change the default search provider. Chrome > Menu > Settings > Search Engine allows you to change the default search engine in the browser, but you can't add new ones to their list, so it is a limited set of options available. If you're talking about at the Google Now or Siri then as far as I know t…

The one I find most annoying on Android is the search bar on the home screen. Even though you can customize most of the rest of the screen, you can't change the search provider for that bar, or even just remove the bar. At least, not without replacing the launcher entirely, with something like Nova Launcher (http://novalauncher.com/), which is what I eventually did.

Re: Google Paid Apple $1B to Keep Search Bar on iPhone

#59

Post by notatoad »

_delirium wrote: post #58
artimaeis wrote: post #51

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If you're talking about within the Chrome app on Android then, unless something changed in Marshmallow, you can totally change the default search provider. Chrome > Menu > Settings > Search Engine allows you to change the default search engine in the browser, but you can't add new ones to their list, so it is a limited set of options available. If you're talking about at the Google Now or Siri then as far as I know t…

The one I find most annoying on Android is the search bar on the home screen. Even though you can customize most of the rest of the screen, you can't change the search provider for that bar, or even just remove the bar. At least, not without replacing the launcher entirely, with something like Nova Launcher ( http://novalauncher.com/ ), which is what I eventually did.

This is not really an android flaw but a nexus one, because its default launcher is part of the google search app. On many android phones, the search box is a widget that can be swapped out with a widget from any other search provider or removed entirely.

Re: Google Paid Apple $1B to Keep Search Bar on iPhone

#60

Post by kuschku »

notatoad wrote: post #59
_delirium wrote: post #58

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The one I find most annoying on Android is the search bar on the home screen. Even though you can customize most of the rest of the screen, you can't change the search provider for that bar, or even just remove the bar. At least, not without replacing the launcher entirely, with something like Nova Launcher ( http://novalauncher.com/ ), which is what I eventually did.

This is not really an android flaw but a nexus one, because its default launcher is part of the google search app. On many android phones, the search box is a widget that can be swapped out with a widget from any other search provider or removed entirely.

But this bar also appears on the "Recent Apps" menu, and can’t be changed there, at all.

You only get either the bar, or an error message, which says the Google App can not be found.

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