Google Dominates iPhone Web Traffic, But Will It Be Bumped For Bing?
Such a rift between Apple and Google could have a big impact on both companies and on Apple iPhone users, according to a new research report.
"As huge as this is from a business relations point of view (Apple must be seriously angry with Google to consider pairing up with their longtime rival Microsoft), when you look closer at the numbers Google pulls from iPhone users, you begin to realize just how much this could affect the big G," wrote Daniel Ruby, online insights research director for Chitika, in the report.
Google is so dominant on the iPhone because it is currently the default search engine at the top of the iPhone's Safari browser, according to Chitika.
Google accounts for slightly more than half of all Internet traffic on Apple iPhones, according to Chitika. Nonsearch traffic accounts for 48 percent of all iPhone Internet use while all other search engines, including Yahoo, Bing, Ask.com and AOL, account for less than 1.5 percent, according to Chitika.
Overall, Google accounts for about 30.8 percent of Internet traffic, meaning that iPhone users spend more time Googling than a typical PC user.
"Typing a full URL is unwieldy to many with the virtual keyboard, and browsing sessions are likely shorter than they would be on a laptop or desktop, leading to less opportunities to click from site to site," Ruby wrote. "If Google loses its status as the iPhone's default search to Bing, that becomes a massive shift in mobile Web superiority."
The iPhone makes up about 54 percent of all mobile Web traffic, with Google thus accounting for more iPhone traffic (27.3 percent) than all Web traffic for Google's own Android platform (27 percent).
"Google has recently shown that mobile advertising is a very high priority, given their acquisition of AdMob in November, so a swing of over a quarter of the smartphone market from Google to Bing would be a huge blow to their plans," wrote Ruby.
Any perceived rift between Apple and Google might now be even further escalated following Google's announcement Wednesday that it will work around its exclusion from Apple's App Store for its Google Voice telephone service. Google said the service will be available as a Web-based app through a Web browser on its Web site.