When loading up the Safari browser on your iPhone you’ll see an address bar at the top left raking about 2/3 of the screen width along with a smaller search box just next to it with the word Google inserted. When taping the search box the keyboard pops open and the word Google can be found on the bottom right of the keyboard… this is changing.
Apple [AAPL] in their latest iPhone OS 4.0 have actually scrubbed out Google [GOOG] from the box and keyboard in what looks to be a move to distance themselves from the company. The iPad running it’s current OS also has Google replaced on the keyboard with a generic “Search” added to the device. With in the iPad, users have the option to default search to either Google or Yahoo!, so it seems like Apple are not wanting to tie themselves down to just one search function. On the iPad when selecting a default, the small box at the top does show the default search setting, but the keyboard just has that generic search added.
We have heard reports that Google pay around $100M a year to have their search engine prominent in Apple products, but it seems that the agreement might be coming to an end and other companies are now showing up in that search area on their phone.
Another reason could be related to iAd which will be a competitor to Google Adsense for mobile in some ways.
With this news and the news of Adobe being kicked out to the sidelines with Apple blocking their new software due to it being 3rd party, it seems like Apple are making a stance that no one is going to interfere with how things are done on their OS.
Via: Giz
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