Search engine: Apple may dump Google for Yahoo
‘Let me Yahoo that for you’ is a phrase a lot of iPhone users might soon have to get used to.
It’s been revealed that Yahoo CEO Marissa Mayer is intent on getting Apple to switch its default engine from Google to Yahoo.
Currently Google is the default search engine on all Apple mobile devices.
Whether you’re using the web or talking to Siri, Google’s powerful algorithms are the automatic method of finding what you were after.
Of course, you can alter your device’s settings to change this to one of the other providers like Yahoo or Microsoft’s Bing.
According to sources speaking to re/code, however, Google’s competitors are not going down without a fight.
For starters, Bing has taken over from Google as the brains behind Siri.
It has been a difficult 12 months for Yahoo.
Last May, BT announced it was switching its 6 million subscribers from using Yahoo Mail after reports of problems and bugs with the service.
Then, in October, a redesign was met with outrage after thousands of users complained the new Yahoo Mail had removed popular features and was more difficult to use.
In December, Yahoo was also among the major companies targeted by the Pony botnet in which two million accounts were compromised.
And most recently, Yahoo was announced as one of the many websites susceptible to the Heartbleed bug.
But with the impressive performance of China’s Alibaba, in which Yahoo holds a large share, the company could get a cash injection that will enable it to boost its profile.
And Yahoo has already set in motion plans to pitch Apple a bold idea to dump Google for good.
It has been reported that Yahoo’s search functionality, which was previously powered by Bing, will be given a revamp as a standalone service.
‘This is the aim of the whole effort here, to grab the pole position in iOS search,’ one person working on the plans said.
‘It will take more than pretty pictures, though, to convince Apple to give up on Google, given its focus on consumer experience being top-notch. ‘But Marissa wants it very badly.’ If successful, the bid could signal a turn in fortunes for a company that has struggled to keep itself relevant on the Internet.