Apple
Google reveals Microsoft’s Bing offer to Apple for joint search venture
In a newly unsealed filing, Google disclosed that Microsoft offered its Bing search engine to Apple in favor of a joint venture in 2018. Evidence clarifying web search advertising and the legality of agreements such as Google’s with Apple to be the default search of Safari revealed this interesting info.
Google through its filing revealed that Microsoft tried to sell its Bing search engine to Apple six times between 2009 and 2020. The company was approaching the iPhone maker to own Bing and make it the default search engine on its Safari web browser.
Follow us on Facebook | X (Twitter) | Telegram
The search engine giant claimed (via CNBC) that Microsoft spent nearly $100 million on Bing over 20 years. It approached the iPhone maker in 2018, offering full ownership over Bing or creating a joint venture for the engine, instead of just becoming the default search.
The filing quotes Apple SVP of Services Eddy Cue assessing Bing, stating “Microsoft search quality, their investment in search, everything was not significant at all. And so everything was lower. So the search quality itself wasn’t as good.”
Image – Microsoft Bing