According to The Information, Microsoft’s proposed super app, which would aggregate shopping, messaging, web search, news feeds, and other services in a one-stop smartphone app, has been considered in order to break Google and Apple’s grip on the mobile search space.
The Windows company hoped to use the super app to boost its ad business as well. Furthermore, the app is proposed to draw attention to other Microsoft products such as Bing and Teams.
The report goes on to say that it’s unclear whether Microsoft will eventually launch such an app, but it’s something that’s been discussed internally. CEO Satya Nadella is spearheading Microsoft’s push to better integrate into mobile products, with a particular emphasis on “pushing the Bing search engine to work better with other Microsoft mobile products.”
According to The Information, Microsoft has previously bid on this deal but has always been outbid by Google. According to the report, “the negotiations have typically taken place directly between Nadella and top Apple executives behind closed doors.” As a result, “many top Microsoft executives are unaware of the process.”
There is no indication that Microsoft intends to pursue a deal with Apple to make Bing the default search engine on the iPhone. Instead, the company’s efforts are concentrated on improving Bing integration with existing Microsoft services and considering the possibility of a super app.
The sources for this piece include an article in Reuters.