iOS 9's new features will target Google's search business

There have been a lot of reports about Apple adding an ad blocking feature to iOS9, and many people see it as a challenge to Google's traditional advertising revenue. In fact, what everyone doesn't know is that another update provided in iOS9 may have a more serious impact on the revenue of the giant Google - the upgraded Spotlight search function. Although this is not a direct challenge to Google like the ad blocking feature, it will slowly cut off Google's advertising revenue (from Apple devices) without anyone noticing.

Change Details

To better understand this problem, it is necessary to look back at the related niche field of App Search Optimization (ASO). Until now, the application of ASO is still relatively limited, because developers and marketers can only do some optimization actions on the application platform display list to get better application display opportunities, and search engines have no way to access the content inside these applications. However, Apple, Google and other third-party institutions that provide deep connection services such as Branch.io and Deeplink.me have begun to actively index the content inside applications.

With these new indexes, new ways to promote in-app content are beginning to arrive. This app search experience will be no different from traditional web search, except that it comes from within the app instead of the web. This is bound to increase user engagement and conversion rates. Ultimately, developers will find more people using their apps, OS providers will earn more revenue, and users will have easier access to content within apps.

Ultimately, users will only need to be provided with a search page within the device, and they will be able to search for applications and services in a pre-built "pool" without having to use Google's search engine at all.

Apple cuts in on Google

We have already found in iOS 9 that Apple has begun to index the content of applications, and when users use Spotlight or Siri to search, the corresponding results will be presented directly. The key point here is that users will get the results they want before considering using Google or Bing.

Apple is very smart to take into account the nature of mobile devices as personal devices and create a targeted index database inside the user's device. This makes the user's private data more secure and ensures the relevance of search results.

At the same time, Apple also links this local index with the index on the public cloud, which stores third-party search results outside of the user's device applications. So when users search, they can not only get results from their devices, but also see search results from other external applications that are not installed. In this way, Apple can keep more users in the iOS ecosystem, and more importantly, keep users away from Google.

If it weren't Apple that did this, maybe people would think this approach wouldn't be a big deal. However, since Apple has provided users with such a signpost pointing directly to the Apple ecosystem, its expansion will inevitably have a huge impact on search providers. A butterfly flapping its wings in Cupertino (the global headquarters of Apple Computer, located in San Francisco, USA) may cause a storm in Mountain View.

Obviously, Google is not slow to react to this change. It has already started building its own index to enhance app search and has been using it for some time. For example, Google Now has been working with selected app publishers to provide relevant content for the search results of the Google Now app.

The real problem for Google here is that iOS users are very quick to accept new things. As more and more users find that they don't need to go through Google at all and can get the results they want directly using Spotlight or Siri, Google's traditional advertising revenue will inevitably begin to shrink due to the loss of this huge iOS user base.

The war of mobile search based on operating systems is just beginning, and we will see how it continues to develop. Apple made the first move with the iOS9 upgrade, giving it the upper hand. The question remains whether Google will follow up with a bigger but slower move to rally its forces and try to pull back. It is too early to predict the new order in the mobile search space, and the major players are all arranging their troops. Let's just sit back and enjoy the good show that follows.