Google usage in Apple’s Safari browser fell for the first time last month as users increasingly choose AI for search

Eddy Cue, Apple’s senior vice president of Services, reported a decline in Safari searches last month, attributing it to users shifting toward AI. His remarks indicate a potential major disruption in the search landscape, challenging Google’s online search monopoly.
Aditya Soni and Jody Godoy for Reuters:
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Apple’s plans to add AI-powered search options to its Safari browser are a big blow to Google, whose lucrative advertising business relies significantly on iPhone customers using its search engine.
The iPhone maker was “actively looking at” reshaping Safari, a source familiar with the matter told Reuters, citing Apple executive Eddy Cue who was offering testimony at an antitrust case on Wednesday over Google’s dominance in online search.
Cue said searches on Safari fell for the first time last month due to users increasingly turning to AI, according to the source…
The Apple executive’s comments suggests that a seismic shift in search is likely underway, threatening Google’s dominant search business – a go-to advertising destination for marketers that has now become a target for U.S. antitrust regulators, which filed two major lawsuits against the company.
Google is the default search engine on Apple’s browser, a coveted position for which it pays the iPhone maker roughly $20 billion a year, or about 36% of its search advertising revenue generated through the Safari browser, analysts have estimated.
Banning Google from paying companies to be the default search engine is among the remedies that the U.S. Justice Department has proposed to break up its dominance in online search.

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MacDailyNews Take: Google’s search monopoly cannot die quickly enough!
As we wrote yesterday, “We no longer search with Google as its results do not reflect the depth of the entire web, and skewed by bias, and are laden with paid placements. Google is passé. For far, far better search results than Google, we use Grok 3 either in Safari via x.com/i/grok or in the Grok app for iPhone and iPad.”
The writing is finally on the wall for Google search. It’s all downhill from here.
Google is an online advertising monopoly masquerading as a search engine. Effective antitrust action against Google that restores competition into the the online search and advertising markets would be very welcome (while we’re still here, please)!
The unfortunately ubiquitous search engine is a mechanism for tracking users in order to deliver targeted advertising to them.
If you haven’t already, give DuckDuckGo a try today (https://duckduckgo.com) or even Bing. Anything to help restore at least some competition to online search. – MacDailyNews, March 17, 2021

We’d like to see real competition in the online search and advertising markets restored someday. — MacDailyNews, March 20, 2019

With this unprecedented power, platforms have the ability to redirect into their pockets the advertising dollars that once went to newspapers and magazines. No one company should have the power to pick and choose which content reaches consumers and which doesn’t. — MacDailyNews, November 9, 2017

Imagine if your livelihood depended on one company that had not only monopolized web search (and, thereby, basically controlled how new customers find you), but also controlled the bulk of online advertising dollars which funded your business and which they could pull, simply threaten to pull, or reduce rates at any time? Now also imagine if you believe this monopolist basically stole the product of another company that is the very subject of your business? How much would you criticize the monopolist thief’s business practices?
You might guess that it would be a tough road to walk. (We’re only imagining, of course!)
That would be a good example of why monopolies are bad for everyone…
In the meantime, stop using Google search and Google products wherever possible. Monopolies are bad for everyone. — MacDailyNews, July 14, 2016

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[Thanks to MacDailyNews Reader “Fred Mertz” for the heads up.]
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