Apple Search?

Awhile ago I posted a short piece about what it means to be open, suggesting that Google is just as closed as Apple when it comes to where the company makes its money.

A recent conversation on the topic led me to a thought experiment that I think perfectly illustrates this.

Most of the flack Apple gets centers around the App Store and iPhone which are completely controlled by Apple, whereas in Google's world, any developer can create an application and have it run on an Android device. Apple claims this offers a consistent and superior experience, Google claims that more choices are better for the user. This battle has been ongoing for decades.

But what if Apple were to get into the search business? Imagine if Apple develops a search algorithm and releases it as an open source project, or as a free license to anyone who cares to implement it.¹

Doing so would not only pit the two companies even more fiercely against each other, but Apple would directly threaten one of Google's most lucrative—and closed—revenue streams. Just as Google is doing to the App Store with the Android Marketplace.

Google doesn't need Android to be a hugely successful and profitable company, and neither would Apple need a search business to be the same. It's easy to see how Android helps Google, and Apple could probably sell a lot of iAds on its search results.

It may seem far-fetched to consider Apple (or anyone) taking on Google Search. But Apple doesn't want to hinge its success on products or technologies it doesn't control. So, if Apple's new ad platform is successful, it's not hard to imagine Apple providing additional places to show iAds, and web search is huge.

It's true that Apple makes a fair amount of money by including Google Search in their browsers on the Mac, iPod, iPhone, and iPad. But Apple isn't making any money off the ads themselves—Google is (hence the payout). If Apple has a thriving ad business, there's more potential revenue from that than the "thank you" kickback they get for hosting Google Search in their browsers.

But one thing is certain: if Apple does create a search algorithm to compete with Google, they won't claim that they did so only to save us from a draconian future.

¹Apple is perhaps one of the only companies which, if they do announce a search algorithm to directly compete with Google, would be regarded as an immediate and credible threat. Microsoft, and to a lesser extent Yahoo! used to be companies with this sort of clout, but Bing and Yahoo! search are also-rans, and neither company has shown the aptitude needed to beat the Boys from Mountain View.←