Apple held talks with DuckDuckGo to replace Alphabet Inc.’s Google as the default search engine for the private mode on Apple’s Safari browser, but ultimately rejected the idea, according to Bloomberg.
DuckDuckGo is described by it makers as a web browser “that doesn’t track you.” It lets you surf the web without your searches being saved or your info shared with advertisers.
The details of Apple’s discussion to buy DuckDuckGo or Microsoft’s Bing search engine in 2018 and 2020 were revealed late Wednesday in transcripts unsealed by the judge overseeing the US government’s antitrust trial against Google, according to Bloomberg.
Back in 2020 Bernstein analyst Toni Sacconaghi suggested that Apple should scoop up DuckDuckGo. Sacconaghi said that acquiring the fourth most popular US search engine DuckDuckGo for approximately $1 billion would put pressure on Google and allow Apple to capture lucrative advertising revenue.
Article provided with permission from AppleWorld.Today