Tim Cook feels Google Search is the best despite privacy concerns

In an interview with Axios that was aired on HBO on Sunday, Apple CEO Tim Cook spoke about several issues such as data privacy, Apple's relationship with Google, gender disparity in Silicon Valley, and more. Cook said that privacy is a 'core value' of Apple's philosophy and that it was adopted way before smartphones even became ubiquitous. On that note, Cook was asked as to why Apple took billions from Google to incorporate it as the default search engine despite known privacy concerns. He responded by saying,

I think [Google's] search engine is the best. Look at what we've done with the controls we've built in. We have private web browsing, we have intelligent tracker prevention. What we've tried to do is come up with ways to help our users through their course of the day. It's not a perfect thing – I'd be the first person to say that – but it goes a long way to helping."

Cook admitted that it's 'not a perfect thing' but still feels that Google has the best search engine and Apple has included features in Safari to make the experience a lot less intrusive. Earlier, Apple was been using Microsoft Bing as its default search provider in the Safari browser and Siri but Google has been paying Apple handsomely every year to make sure that Google Search is set to be the default. 

The Apple CEO seemed to not like government regulation when it comes to user privacy but rather believes in a 'free market'. But he quickly added that free markets have not worked well before so there will be 'some level of regulation'. 

Tim Cook also touched upon the overall male-dominated culture of Silicon Valley and felt that it 'missed it' when it came to gender. He said,

We spend a lot of time on this and we're constantly asking ourselves how we can improve more and listening to what our folks tell us, and I believe others are doing that too. I'm actually encouraged at this point that there will be a marked improvement over time."

Apple is not the only company to which Google shells out the moolah, though. Last year, Samsung is said to have received US$3.5 billion from Google to keep Google Search as the default on Galaxy devices. The full Axios interview is not yet available online but you can catch a short preview below.

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