Microsoft repeatedly urged Apple to make Bing the default search engine for Safari or even purchase it outright, according to documents that are part of Google’s ongoing antitrust case versus the U.S. Justice Department (via CNBC).
The legal battle is over whether Alphabet has a monopoly in web search advertising and touches on key agreements Google has with Apple and Android phone makers to make it the default search engine in browsers.
According to the documents, Microsoft approached Apple several times over a decade (2009, 2013, 2015, 2016, 2018, and 2020), attempting to convince the Cupertino firms that Bing should replace Google as the default search engine in Safari.
Apple consistently turned down the Microsoft overtures, citing concerns over Bing’s search quality compared to Google’s. In 2018, Microsoft offered to sell Bing to Apple or establish a joint venture around the search engine. Apple also rebuked those proposals.
Eddy Cue, Apple’s Senior Vice President of Services, is quoted in the filings as being skeptical about Bing’s search quality and Microsoft’s investment in search technology.
Google pays billions of dollars to Apple to continue to be the default search engine on Apple devices. Google points to Microsoft’s repeated pitches to Apple to demonstrate the competitiveness of the browser search engine market.