Apple and Google’s relationship is among the most convoluted. Apple’s latest ad targets Google, urging its 1.4 billion consumers to abandon Chrome on their iPhones.
So why now? Google wants to convert Safari users to Chrome. Due to a commercial arrangement with Apple, Safari presently handles most iPhone search requests, with Google search as the default option. US and European monopoly investigations might end that arrangement. So Google is pushing Plan B.
Chrome currently has 30% iPhone install base, but Google aims to expand it to 50%, bringing in 300 million more users. Apple certainly wants to stop this. At 300 million pairs of eyes, online revenue is high, and on-device AI will make search a retention vs conversion war.
Thus, Apple Safari privacy billboards may have appeared in your city. The initiative began locally in San Francisco and has since expanded globally. They don’t need to mention Chrome in the commercials. Nothing else matters. Safari and Chrome have over 90% market share on mobile devices. Their iPhone battle is a straight gunfight.
Chrome’s weakness is privacy.Google is still navigating a regulatory quagmire, delaying the phase out of tracking cookies. Chrome’s quasi-privacy option gives consumers less privacy than expected. Recent concerns indicate that Google secretly collects device data from Chrome users, which cannot be blocked.
This privacy debate has escalated with Apple’s new video ad that applies Hitchcock’s “The Birds” to smartphone privacy. This powerful, memorable message is apparent. Use Safari to avoid online surveillance. You shouldn’t use Google Chrome if you don’t want to be observed online. I asked Google for feedback on the new ad.
The video implies that this is targeting Android users to switch to iPhone, but that’s not the goal. Despite the punchy ad, Android users won’t switch browsers. This is about limiting iPhone users to Apple’s ecosystem. It may not be that easy.
The harsh reality for Apple is that users prefer Google Search. Apple allegedly found this superior than alternatives. Apple dropped Google Maps years ago and had to reverse. If Safari removes Google as the default search, users can still configure it manually.
The question is if Google will give Chrome-exclusive AI search features. We know such actions have been considered but rejected, but AI browser integrations are still new. Apple has further critical anti-Chrome propaganda coming.
In addition to the Birds-inspired video and social media advertising, Apple launched “Private Browsing 2.0” to showcase its new Safari security and privacy improvements. “We’ve enhanced web privacy immensely,” Apple claims, “and hope to set a new industry standard for Private Browsing.”
Despite its explosive character, this video did not gain much notice on release, but it is now being taken up on social media and has huge ramifications with its “big punch” at Google Chrome, according to X.
Apple said fingerprinting and cross-site tracking will continue. And that Chrome’s half-measures can’t match its strictest privacy approach. Google is stuck between tracking cookies we all despise and new technologies that have yet to land. Apple is trying to sabotage its Privacy Sandbox before its release.
Apple has launched a strong attack on Chrome before any browser improvements. Although 300 million Safari users are currently owned by Apple, watch this space.
