Yahoo, Microsoft vying to be default search option on Apple Safari

With the search agreement between Apple and Google set to expire next year, both Yahoo and Microsoft are vying to be the default search option for the Apple Safari browser, New Hampshire Voice reported.

Google had till now been the engine for Safari but the Google-Safari agreement was expected to expire in 2015.

According to reports, Yahoo and Microsoft were in talks with Eddy Cue, senior vice president of Apple Internet Software and Services, about becoming Safari's default search option.

Additionally a number of reports had also revealed that discussions were also apparently underway between Apple and startup search engine DuckDuckGo.

Also, it was being projected that Apple might even tie up with other search engines in different markets across the world.

Among the search engines that might be a possible replacement for Google as Safari default search engine, Yahoo enjoys an edge over others; especially after Yahoo revealed in a recent announcement that it had signed a new 5-year partnership with Mozilla for replacement of Google as the default search engine on the Firefox browser in the US.

According to reports 2015  would see the end of the existing contract between Google and Apple.

Google which had had a long association with Mozilla, had been the default search engine of the Firefox browser since 2004.

If Yahoo ended up signing a contract with Apple for offering search service on its Safari web browser, it would not be for the first time the two companies got associated with each other. Yahoo currently provided the Cupertino-based company with sports and stock information.

Microsoft was also related to Apple as its search engine Bing delivered search results on Siri, the knowledge navigator and personal assistant that can be used as an app on Apple's mobile operating system iOS.

The opportunity to emerge as Safari's default search provider would be very profitable as currently the Apple browser was made available on all iOS and Mac devices as their core app.

There could not be any denying the fact that no other search provider had achieved as much success as Google has managed to achieve over the years. Thus, to match Google's proficiency, Yahoo was currently working to revamp its search tool's interface.