Google and Apple spokespersons have announced that Apple is switching its default partner for web searches from Bing to Google. Google will now be the default when searching the internet with Siri on iOS or Spotlight on macOS.
According to TechCrunch, consistency is Apple’s main motivation given for switching the results from Microsoft’s Bing to Google. Safari on Mac and iOS already currently use Google search as the default provider, thanks to a deal worth billions to Apple (and Google) over the last decade. This change will now mirror those results when Siri, the iOS Search bar, or Spotlight is used.
It is believed that Google will provide general internet links and videos, while Bing will still provide image search results for now.
How will this impact Google’s traffic?
There are now more than 700 million iPhones currently in use worldwide. Apple’s total number of global iPhone users continue to grow and could eventually reach 1 billion within the next couple of years. Now, with this new deal, Google will be able to re-provide map data and act as the default search engine for Apple’s iPhone, iPad and iPod Touch products. This is a certain win for Google, as all those iOS devices means that Google will actually earn four times as much from its deal with Apple than from Android.
Moving forward, it’s inevitable that Google’s traffic share will increase by a substantial amount – Google host 92% of the search engine market share worldwide. This is not just a win for them, but an excellent opportunity for businesses to have their products and services advertised on a much larger platform, to a much larger consumer market share.
Search Engine Global Market Share
Source: StatCounter, Aug 2017When talking PPC and all things AdWords, it shouldn’t be a surprise to see a vast increase in impressions and, perhaps, CPCs moving forward. But it’s important for businesses to remember that although CPCs may increase, the potential to drive revenue from PPC has increased vastly as Google widens its net.
Our advice to all businesses who aren’t advertising on Google, is that now is the time to get on the bandwagon! And to those who are currently on, to keep an eye on your AdWords impression share to make sure you’re not missing out on valuable clicks.
What about Bing?
Sure, this may be a bonus for Google, but it certainly isn’t all bad news for Bing. Bing search still dominates Amazon’s Alexa and Windows’ Cortana and voice search is on the increase. According to Search Engine Land, last year alone, the use of voice search went from basically nothing to 10% of all search volume – this is phenomenal growth.
It is also predicted that by 2020, 50% of all search will be by voice. Even though Google Home has recently launched, Bing is still king.
So, whilst you should keep an eye on your Google impression share to make sure you’re not missing out on those Siri and Home voice searches, don’t think about cutting back on your Bing spend. If anything, you need to be increasing both to reap the benefits of the changing search landscape.