In addition to Bing, Apple may also have wanted to use DuckDuckGo as a Google replacement

During the American antitrust case against Google, more has become clear about Apple’s plan to replace Google as the default search engine. For example, details emerged about conversations with DuckDuckGo and Microsoft.

Apple is said to have had extensive discussions with DuckDuckGo, among other things. That writes Bloomberg based on a testimonial from the DuckDuckGo CEO. That CEO did this during the US Department of Justice’s antitrust case against Google Search. A total of about twenty conversations were said to have taken place between DuckDuckGo and Apple, with the idea being to use that search engine as a replacement for Google in the private mode of the Safari browser.

According to the DuckDuckGo CEO, Apple was about to use the search engine, but ultimately decided against it. However, Apple CEO John Giannandrea claims in his testimony that he knows nothing about a possible switch to DuckDuckGo. He also questions the privacy-friendliness of the search engine.

Apple is also said to have spoken with Microsoft about a possible acquisition of Bing. Bloomberg previously wrote, based on anonymous sources, that Apple wanted to buy Microsoft’s Bing search engine. Giannandrea now confirms this in testimony and in revealed documents, writes The Washington Post. He states that Apple held discussions with Microsoft in 2018 and 2020 about a possible joint venture between the two companies or an acquisition of Bing by Apple.

According to Giannandrea, the acquisition was ultimately abandoned because tests showed that Google provided better search results than Bing in almost all languages. Bing only scored as well as Google in English search results. Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella confirmed the talks and said Microsoft was willing to spend “billions” to make Bing the default search engine on Apple devices.

An internal email shows that Apple’s possible purchase of Bing was at least partly aimed at getting a better search deal from Google. Nevertheless, the email states that the company would also expand its capabilities with the acquisition to actually replace Google in the future.