New browser war? – Conflict between Apple and Google escalates

Current developments could lead to a new browser war. One such war is now brewing between Apple and Google, who currently largely share the market. The trigger, however, comes from outside.

Chrome and Safari dominate

Google currently dominates the browser market with its Chrome. The company is coming Data from StatCounter currently has a share of almost 66 percent. Apple is in second place with its Safari and has a usage share of around 18 percent. This means that Safari is also higher than all other browser providers combined. Among these, Microsoft’s Edge currently has a somewhat outstanding share of 5.3 percent, while other well-known brands such as Firefox, Opera and Samsung Internet are all well below the 3 percent mark. These significant differences are of course mainly due to the enormous dominance of the mobile platforms Android and iOS.

In recent years, Apple and Google have had a close, if somewhat complicated, partnership, especially on the iPhone. Google pays large sums to have its own search engine as the default setting in Safari, effectively keeping all other web search providers away from Apple’s mobile platform. However, the underlying agreement is now being challenged by antitrust watchdogs. It could happen that the cooperation in its current form will no longer be permitted in the future. Google is therefore already trying to expand its own position on iOS.

Google wants more

The Google browser is currently only installed on around 30 percent of iPhones. The company’s stated goal is to increase this figure to at least 50 percent. That would mean that Google could win around 300 million more users for its browser – and thus for data collection for its lucrative advertising marketing networks. Apple has now reacted to this and is trying to use its own advantages against its competitor: In a new campaign, the company is once again focusing on stronger privacy protection. The highlight of this is a new advertising clip in which users of Chrome (the name is not mentioned, but there is actually no other browser) are tracked in Hitchcock style when using their smartphones. Apple says: Safari protects against dangerous surveillance swarms

The message is basically clear: only using the Safari browser will ultimately protect you from being monitored in detail. But even here it is not that simple. The preferred search engine among Safari users is Google Search, because to date no competitor can match it in terms of quality.