Comments on: An Apple Search Engine?

By: Omar

Omar — Wed, 03 Feb 2010 20:35:24 +0000

I love both apple and google. Apple have never spent a lot for a company and in most cases they grab startups so if apple were to enter the searcharket watch for an obscure little search related company with a secret code and that will be apples target.

But I don't think that will even happend.

By: Sanjay Maharaj

Sanjay Maharaj — Mon, 18 Jan 2010 23:24:23 +0000

I do agree that Apple will need some kind of strategy now that Google has pivoted to smartphone to preserve its search engine and online ad status now that everything is moving towards smartphone.
I also agree about going the Yahoo route and buying Yahoo out as an entry strategy. Whatever is the case it should be an interesting battle

By: Rob

Rob — Mon, 18 Jan 2010 13:39:32 +0000

I would love to see this happen, although doubt they would just jump in. An entry through acquisition is more likely.

By: Amelia

Amelia — Mon, 18 Jan 2010 09:50:02 +0000

I agree with a previous commenter – Apple should buy Yahoo and bring it up to be real competition for Google – competition is healthy!

By: Gab Goldenberg

Gab Goldenberg — Sun, 17 Jan 2010 04:40:36 +0000

They'd want Google because, as Verizon saw, most people [sadly] prefer Google such that they have a de facto monopoly.

As to rolling their own for ad dollars, that assumes they're going to transform into an ad company. IDK how successful Google's phone will be (I'm skeptical) and I think the reverse effort by Apple would fail, probably more spectacularly.

By: bruce wayne

bruce wayne — Fri, 15 Jan 2010 21:13:36 +0000

If apple wants a search app and content creation platform to change the game and put google in th back seat they only need Factoetum...We have just added the ability for members to import their itunes library files into Factoetum so that they can search and find music and video that their friends also like.

All of this and more in an all data semantic format that re writes the rules of content creation and search

By: bruce wayne

bruce wayne — Fri, 15 Jan 2010 21:12:03 +0000

All of this and more in an all data semantic format that re writes the rules of content creation and search

By: T

Fri, 15 Jan 2010 17:57:55 +0000

How much of the secret sauce of search is truly proprietary and how much is simply adapting a set of known current approaches and applying the brute force of a giant server farm?

Could Apple buy Cuil, hire a bunch of engineers from Yahoo, Amazon, Google... add some cash and make a quick go of it?

Most of us reading here have explored the limitations of current search engines and know pretty well at what point in our querying we can stump them, but the use-cases for search via the iphone seem much more finite and addressable.

Seems unlikely Apple would do this, but I imagine they could explore the terrain without breaking a sweat given their cash and culture.

By: oriste

oriste — Fri, 15 Jan 2010 17:56:25 +0000

Apple doesn’t need a search engine. Google makes money from ads, the search engine is a means to an end: by monitoring search terms, Google can provide better targeted ads. Lets call it interest-based advertising. But there is another form of advertising: proximity-based advertising. With everybody and his dog using an iPhone and Apple recently having acquired Quattro Wireless, Apple will be in a very good position to deliver those ads to your Jesus Phone! See this patent application: http://appft.uspto.gov/netacgi/nph-Parser?Sect1=PTO2&Sect2=HITOFF&u=/netahtml/PTO/search-adv.html&r=5&p=1&f=G&l=50&d=PG01&S1=apple.AS. That’s proximity-based ads! No less, no more.

Apple to Google: “Wanna be in the smart phone business? We come play on your ad turf. Gloves are off”

It’s going to be interesting to watch.

By: Ali

Ali — Fri, 15 Jan 2010 17:54:49 +0000

For sure Apple & Yahoo can add value to each other. But even if Apple buys Yahoo (that'd be the biggest news in 2010) then what happens to iPhone maps, heavily relying on Google?
Correct me if I'm wrong, but I don't know any better replacements for that one.

This is all exciting speculation, though.