Apple may float its own search engine soon: Report

Amid uncertainties related to US antitrust department's crackdown on Google over hefty payments for its prime placement on iPhones, Apple Inc is working on an in-house search engine, according to a report by GSM Arena.

According to the report quoting the Financial Times, Google pays $10 to $12 billion to be the main search engine on Apple devices but the deal is likely to expire soon. And an antitrust case against Google by the US Department of Justice may cast a shadow on its renewal.

Read: Apple, Google and a deal that controls the internet

Apple's recent move to show its own search results on home screen search, bypassing Google entirely, in the latest iPhone operating system iOS 14, hints at a shift in the company's interest in venturing into web search.

Apple currently uses Applebot, an in-house web crawler, to look for and index articles. According to the Applebot support page, the crawler is used by Siri and Spotlight Suggestions.

Experts feel that in the company's newfound interest, its move to hire John Giannandrea, who was previously head of Google's machine intelligence, research and search teams, could benefit Apple.

Giannandrea, who joined Apple nearly three years ago, leads the company's AI and machine learning strategies.