Why Does Google Find It Difficult To Persuade iPhone Users To Switch To Its Apps?

A lot of people own Apple iPhones, and the majority of them use the built-in browser, Safari, to search the internet. This is a dilemma for Google, the most widely used search engine globally. Google pays Apple a hefty price (about $20 billion) to be the iPhone's default search engine. This implies that Google conducts the search on the user's iPhone in the background.

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But Google wants more than just Safari users to utilize its own apps for searches. Google can display more adverts to users and increase revenue in this way. Google has made a few attempts in recent years to encourage more iPhone users to switch to its apps.

One concept was to provide exclusive features, such as artificial intelligence (AI)-powered capabilities, to Google apps only. An additional suggestion was to enable users to immediately publish brief films to Google Search, a la TikTok and YouTube Shorts. However, Google chose against taking these actions due to the possibility that they may annoy users of Safari.

Google hasn't had much luck encouraging users to use its iPhone apps up to this point. Just 25% of iPhone searches five years ago used Google apps. That figure is just little higher now, at 30%. Google would prefer that figure to be far higher, about 50%.

There are several possible explanations for Google's difficulties. It's possible that people are accustomed to Safari and don't want to switch. Concerns over Google apps gathering excessive amounts of personal data may also exist. Furthermore, Apple provides a variety of apps that are exclusive to its store, which some users may find more convenient.

Google will have to come up with fresh strategies in the future to draw iPhone users to its apps. Perhaps they should collaborate with Apple to come up with solutions that satisfy everyone. It may also be necessary for them to concentrate on improving their apps and providing unique features that users cannot find elsewhere. It's critical that Google continue to place a high premium on consumer privacy.