
Google is one of the biggest search engines in the world and is the leading engine for mobile devices. Its superiority is almost unquestioned, with most SEO best practices being tailored to meet the Google algorithm.
However, a new shift may be on the horizon, as there are rumblings suggesting that both Apple and Samsung may switch their mobile devices across to competitor Bing as standard practice.
Understandably, such an idea has sent ripples through the technology world, but is there any merit to the idea?
A historically profitable relationship.
If Apple and Samsung do make the transition from Google to Bing, it is a departure from what is a historically profitable relationship:
- Alphabet, which is the parent company of Google, pays Apple roughly $20 billion per year in search revenue sharing.
- This equates to roughly 17% of the operating profits made by Apple.
- In the 2022 fiscal year, Apple alone reported revenue of $393bn, with the money from Alphabet equating to 5% of the total.
Bing incorporates AI into search engines.
A recent report by TechCrunch showed that Microsoft had unveiled the new AI capability for Edge and Bing searching.

The system is powered by OpenAI and has seen a massive rise in the number of global downloads across platforms for the search engine.
At the moment, Bing is the 10th most popular app in the App Store and is the second highest-ranked productivity app, with only Gmail outpacing it.
The AI race continues.
For Google and Bing, the race to turn out functional AI integration for their search engines isn’t a new race – albeit one which Google has stumbled upon over the last few months.
A recent AI event for Google took place in February of 2023, where the company announced how Google would begin to use natural language answers and conversational chatbot technology in the search system.

However, the demo for the product seemed to be an unfortunate attempt to catch up to Bing, who had unveiled their own system just a little before – and the rushed presentation showed the Google chatbot (nicknamed Bard) gave a factual error for an answer to a question.
The net result for the company at the time was billions in stock value drops, but it also allowed Bing to take a comfortable lead in the race. Their recent launch of ChatGPT within the Bing software has been praised by Microsoft executives and is seemingly a challenge directed at their competitors.
The key deal.
As previously mentioned, the arguable linchpin for Google’s dominance across iPhones and Samsung devices is the $20 billion deal that Alphabet has with Apple.
This is ultimately the reason why Google is the default search engine for Apple devices all across the world. It is a costly deal, but it’s also one which has allowed Google to effectively control the mobile market since the inception of the iPhone.
Could the tide turn?
As well as having Apple onside, Google also controls the Android devices that are in play right now and have Chrome installed on phones made by companies like Samsung.
As it stands, Google owns roughly 71% of the smartphone market and 65% of the browser market.
However, it’s not fair to say that Google has a complete stranglehold on the market. Microsoft says that there are more than 1.4 billion Windows devices currently active. The company has been putting substantial investment into the Edge browser, which comes as the default for all Windows devices sold as new.
Final thoughts.
As it stands, Google commands roughly 93% of the market compared to Bing’s 3%. There are some experts who believe that it is possible for Bing to circumvent Google as the default search engine, whereas others believe that the giant has too powerful a grip to ever be shaken loose.
We do not believe it could happen or it could not. Our official position is that it’s possible, but it’s also not confirmed. We will encourage all of our clients to keep in mind that this may happen in the future.
If default search engines move away from Google, then digital marketing strategies will need to be completely overhauled to work on the practices of Bing. That’s not to say for certain that it can happen, more than it is a possibility, and if it does, we are more than happy to help you redefine your marketing strategy.

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