Picture the scene: you need to find details for a local restaurant so you grab your iPhone to Google it… but Google never appears – instead Yahoo appears. Why? Because it’s now the default search engine that’s built into your Apple phone.
Think that’s never going to happen? Well… it might if Marissa Mayer has anything to do with it.
Yesterday news broke that the ambitious Yahoo CEO had plans to try and convince Apple to dump Google and choose Yahoo as the default search engine for their Safari browser which is used on all their iPhones and iPads.
According to the article on Re/code, Ms Mayer is in the process of shaping up a pitch and has already put together detailed design mock-ups on what Yahoo Mobile Search would look like on a number of Apple devices. What’s more, there’s talk she’s already been speaking to a few Apple execs about the potential deal, including Apple’s SVP of Design Jony Ive.
“This is the aim of the whole effort here, to grab the pole position in iOS search. It will take more than pretty pictures, though, to convince Apple to give up Google, given its focus on consumer experience being top-notch. But Marissa wants it very badly,” a source told Re/code.
So, is the a deal imminent? Not quite… apparently Marissa has yet to bend the Apple bosses’ ears on the subject… but news earlier this week that Yahoo’s monthly search engine share in the US has dropped to 10.1% probably isn’t going to help.
That said; it’s worth pointing out that Apple and Yahoo do have a pretty good working relationship already. According to the Re/code article I mentioned earlier, Yahoo is already the default data source for Apple’s iPhone shares and weather apps… so there’s a chance that could work in their favour. I guess for now we’ll have to just wait and see… and keep a close eye on our iPhones!
Yesterday’s announcement marks the latest in a number of headlines the Yahoo CEO has made since taking over at the troubled business in 2012. Last February she got people talking by making major changes to the company’s remote-working policy, forcing lots of workers to return to the Yahoo offices full time or quit – and last May she got Yahoo back in the spotlight by acquiring Tumblr for the princely sum of $1.1 billion.
The announcement also marks the latest round of the ongoing Google/Yahoo war. Last month rumours started flying around that Yahoo was in the process of building their own online video platform which would rival Google’s YouTube.
According to yet another article on Re/code, the focus will be on creating professional videos (rather than the self-made videos which have made YouTube into the giant it is today) – and there are rumours that Yahoo have already started to approach some of YouTube’s biggest stars, with the promise of beating anything they make off YouTube.
A new video site would help to strengthen Yahoo’s position in the video market, which they’ve already said is their main focus this year, along with mobile, mail and social media.
Although Yahoo already have a video sharing site, Yahoo Screen, they stopped letting users upload videos and stopped users from accessing previously uploaded videos in 2011. While the site is still live, it now only features videos from Yahoo and its partners.
Alongside a potential new video platform, it looks like Yahoo will also launch into the mobile video market soon after acquiring Pitch in December – a start-up behind a mobile app which allows users to combine videos and photos on their phones into movies.
As ever, I’m keen to hear what you think. Do you think Yahoo will ever be the default search engine on iPhones and iPads? And do you think they’ll ever be able to seriously take on YouTube? Leave me a comment below or tweet me – @amy_edwards88.