Except, it does hurt. While it certainly helps the bottom line, it definitely hurts Apple's credibility. You see, in addition to making ridiculous amounts of money building products like the iPhone, the Mac, and AirPods; distributing apps in the App Store; and selling subscription services, Tim Cook's Apple has repeatedly preached its undying commitment to user privacy.
The fact that Apple is profiting off of Google search ads seems to be in direct contradiction with that commitment. That's a problem for Apple, which has gone out of its way to distinguish itself from its competitors in this area. The company doesn't collect user data for the purpose of showing "personalized ads" within its products. It doesn't track what you do across third-party apps and websites.
It has even taken a public stance against efforts to weaken privacy, even when that means refusing to cooperate with the FBI over access to devices belonging to mass shooters. That has strengthened the perception that Apple stands for privacy, and its actions have mostly backed that up.
As a result, the company has largely evaded the scrutiny over data protection that have hit other big tech firms like Google and Facebook.
It's actually the reason the company faces so much pushback over its plan to detect child sexual abuse material in iCloud Photos using an on-device hash-matching technology. For a company that hangs up billboards that say "What happens on your iPhone stays on your iPhone," the idea that the company is "scanning" your photos and reporting on what it finds defies that promise.
At least in that case Apple can argue that it's doing the best it can to balance privacy while trying to accomplish a noble goal -- reducing the spread of truly terrible content. With the Google deal, there's no such argument. For some countries, that exceeds the annual GDP, dwarfing the value of all goods and services produced over the course of an entire year.
For Apple, it's what you spend in two weeks to placate a billionaire investor and other shareholders who think selling 50 million or so iPhones in three months just isn't good enough. After reporting stellar first quarter results that nevertheless disappointed Wall Street again, Apple is taking a different tack.
Though Apple's profits continue to rise, investors want more, and a stock buyback -- intended to raise the value of the company's shares -- is one way of keeping them quiet. But what investors really want is something new. Apple's share price has dropped in part because of ongoing concerns that its innovation engine is sputtering. After birthing new product categories with the iPod, iPhone, and iPad, Apple has gone several years without creating something truly original.
To fulfill the great expectations it has set, Apple needs another breakthrough to match those earlier successes. But what if, instead of struggling to invent its way to its next big thing, Apple simply bought it? It's buying startups that make military-grade robot dogs and artificial intelligence companies as it seeks to build a digital version of the human brain. A stock buyback may be prudent, but it's boring. And its effect is ephemeral. Imagine if Apple spent that money on a cool company.
With its billions, Apple could purchase a major fraction of the members of the Fortune It could buy a promising startup in the billion dollar club to infuse itself with innovation mojo. Or it could go even bigger, buying a well-established corporation with the infrastructure and the market dominance it could use as a springboard to something mind-blowingly new and exciting. The argument for Apple buying Tesla is pretty much sealed with one word: iCar. No company has done more to push innovation in the century-old horseless carriage category than the electric car company founded by one-time PayPal mafioso Elon Musk.
After Houston refused, Apple went on to launch iCloud. A few years later, it's clear who won that fight. If Apple wanted to cut its losses, it could drop iCloud altogether and simply replace it with Dropbox. Apple also offers built-in support for privacy-focused browser DuckDuckGo , and recently rolled out support for eco browser Ecosia.
There has even been talk of Apple launching its own search engine, or buying a privacy-focused one such as DuckDuckGo. So what does this mean for you as a user?
So why not try an alternative iPhone search engine such as DuckDuckGo? That will help reduce your reliance on Google and limit its market dominance, which is never going to be a bad thing. This is a BETA experience. You may opt-out by clicking here.
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