Apple AI chief shows new private browser search at Google trial, ET BrandEquity

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John Giannandrea, a former top Google executive who decamped to Apple Inc. to head its artificial intelligence business, pointed out a quiet change in the latest iPhone software update that allows users to select a search engine other than Google\'s when browsing the internet in private mode.

The iOS 17, released Monday, added “a second setting, so you could choose two different” search engines, Giannandrea said in testimony in federal court in Washington as part of the Justice Department\'s antitrust suit against Alphabet Inc.\'s Google.

The change means iPhone users can more easily switch between Google and a different search engine with a single tap.

The difficulty of switching search engines has been hotly contested in US government\'s antitrust suit, which alleges that Google illegally maintained its monopoly over online search via contracts with web browsers and smartphone makers, including Apple.

Google said in its opening statement last week that it\'s easy for users to change search engines in a “matter of seconds.” But on Thursday, Gabriel Weinberg, the chief executive officer of rival search engine DuckDuckGo, testified that Google\'s default status on browsers represents a barrier to user switching, saying there are “just too many steps.”

Google\'s contract with Apple makes it the pre-selected, or default, search engine in Safari, the web browser for iPhone, iPad and Mac computers. In exchange, Google pays Apple some of the revenue it earns from advertising. Though the exact amount is confidential, the Justice Department said earlier in the case that Google pays Apple between $4 billion and $7 billion annually.

In his testimony, Giannandrea said Google will still be the default search engine for Safari in private mode, which doesn\'t keep a history of the websites a user visits. But users will now have a choice to pick Yahoo Inc., Microsoft Corp.\'s Bing, DuckDuckGo or Ecosia for private browsing, he said.

Giannandrea worked at Google between 2010 and 2018 as senior vice president of engineering for search.4

During the ongoing antitrust trial against Google-parent Alphabet Inc., a Google executive revealed that the company only regained 40% of the mobile traffic it previously had on its mapping service after Apple dropped Google Maps as the default on iPhones. The executive used the switch to Apple Maps as a \"data point\" to model the potential impact if Google\'s search engine was replaced as the default on Apple\'s Safari browser. The trial alleges that Google illegally maintained a monopoly by paying billions to remain the default search engine on web browsers and smartphones.

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