Apple vs. Google With Microsoft In The Middle - The UpStream

In 2007 Apple eagerly made a deal with Google to make them the default search provider for the iPhone. The reasoning was that Google's growing popularity could help boost the popularity of an iPhone. That does make sense and Google certainly has the most revered search engine and they would benefit from the extra ad exposure. It's too bad for Apple that Google has also spent the last few years encroaching on their domain. With the Nexus One Google has certainly done that.

It seems that as time goes on they can become competitors in other markets as well. That could be why Apple is looking to estrange itself from Google by engaging in talks with Microsoft to make Bing the default search engine for the iPhone. This is strange, Apple and Google don't get along but neither does Apple and Microsoft, so what is Apple thinking? It could just be clever positioning to strengthen their stance. It seems Apple is looking into placing it's own ads in which case if Bing does become the default search, if even for a short while, Apple will have successfully taken a jab at Google by encroaching on one of their markets and will have used Microsoft as a pawn in the process. At least it might give Bing a much needed popularity boost.

"If you have to do a deal with the devil, you might as well deal with the devil that needs you most," says Forrester Research analyst James McQuivey.