The Apple Search Engine is Coming

There have been rumors swirling around about a pending deal between Apple and Microsoft to have Bing replace Google as the default search engine on iPhones and other Apple devices. This is not surprising considering the domination-of-the-universe war that has broke out between Apple and Google. But what does this portend about the long anticipated release of a Apple-owned search engine?

First, we know stock analysts have been publicly calling out Apple (AAPL) for missing out on the search game. Apple stock is trading at over $200 a share and is closing on its 52-week high. Earnings have to grow at a rapid rate to justify that high stock price and this after continued fantastic success with sales of iPhone and iPods. At some point (if not already) Apple executives are going to start war gaming on entering the search industry. Apple won't ever rest easy. Just ask Motorola, Samsung, and other cell phone manufacturers.

Second, we know Google has aggressively attacked Apple and the iPhone market with the introduction of the Android OS and the Nexus One smartphone. For the first time, Apple can consider Google (and not Microsoft) as their biggest rival. It seems inevitable that Apple will try to slice into Google's search engine market share with a product of their own. Striking a deal with Microsoft and Bing is surely only a temporary solution.

There is a perception that everything Apple touches is golden, so when Apple does launch a search engine for phones and browers we can expect the "Cult of Mac" to kick in. Apple search will be cool and it will be used immediately by millions for no other reason that Apple introduced it. Apple search will reside as the default browser on iPhones, iTouch devices, and Macs and we can expect it to be different than Google and Bing. The best guess for the type of search engine Apple will devise is one that factors in user preferences (iTunes, Safari history, Mac settings) and deliver the most polished and modern search engine results pages we have seen yet. Initially, the SERPS can be expected to contain less advertising, clutter, and overall noise than what we see from Google, Bing, and Yahoo. From a SEO perspective, organic search on Apple's search site is likely to place an emphasis on sites that are more modern and tech-savvy and less encyclopedic. We are guessing that in the Apple-defined world, an in-bound link from TechCrunch or Mashable is more important than a in-bound link from Wikipedia or a press release. iSearch as it is surely destined to be called will be unique and present new SEO challenges.

So how do you prepare for an Apple search engine?

It's simple.

Start being cool.