The web was abuzz today with rumors that Mobile Safari, the iPhone's web browser, will soon switch from using Google to using Bing as it's default search engine. The rumor is about as likely to be true as it is likely not to be, but it does bring some interesting questions to mind. Do I really want to use Bing on my iPhone? Is Bing ready to be my main search provider? Is it better than Google? I decided to fire both of the sites up on my iPhone. They're both actually pretty unimpressive as far as mobile experiences go:

Remember, Apple is ultimately focused on providing great experiences, so my general assumption is that they won't drop Google for a noticeably worse search experience. And while it's true that Apple and Google are gearing up for some solid competition in the near future, Microsoft is still a solid threat as well. So what would cause Apple to decide on using Bing?

Any discussions about switching to Bing that Apple is having aren't about petty competition, they're about creating amazing experiences for their customers.

My guess is that Apple is cutting a deal with Bing that would allow them to control the search experience. I think Microsoft would readily allow that - they'd get the lion's share of the mobile search market overnight and would still pay Apple based on advertising click-throughs. And for Apple, the benefits could be huge. Just imagine the kind of awesome experience web search could yield if it were baked into Mobile Safari - features like voice search, location aware results, a much more visually appealing interface and integration into the iPhone's built search screen.

The two companies are basically both approaching the same problem from opposite directions. Google has built an impressive set of cloud services and is now attempting to ensure the best possible experience with those services on a mobile device. Apple has built the best mobile device ever, but now their task is to grant that device seamless access to all of the data in the cloud. Search is something Apple has to excel at to make that a reality.