We all think of Google as a pillar of the web; even though it’s only been around for twenty years.  However, it’s worth remembering that nothing is permanent, however big it might get.  Remember Blockbuster Video Rentals? 

It now seems possible that even Google will finally see some sort of competition, and it’s from one of the few organisations big enough to take it on: Apple.

If you look closely at the latest version of the software that runs the iPhone, you’ll see a tiny change to how its search function works. Apple has started to show its own search engine’s results, rather than Google’s, which had been the arrangement hitherto.

Search engines only make money if they have lots of users; if someone takes over some of their traffic, income drops. Perhaps none of this should surprise us; Apple poached Google’s Scottish head of search in 2018, and I doubt that he was hired just to sit quietly in a corner.

The industry gossip is that Google sees this as a warning shot, reminding them that they are not the only game in town.