What's next for Siri?
Piper Jaffray analyst Gene Munster wrote in a note that he expects Apple to slowly add more verticals to Siri every year. He speculates that the next big area of focus for Siri could be commerce.
He says, "While we don't have knowledge of future partners, we believe commerce partners such as Amazon, eBay, LivingSocial or Groupon would be logical next steps."
This could be a big step in what we believe is Apple's gradual plan to alter how people use Google on iOS. If done well, it could be a damaging blow to Google's business.
Google's search engine is lucrative because people use it as a starting point for commercial searches. Advertising on the web is all about purchasing intent. When someone is ready to make a purchase, advertisers can use Google to get a leg up on the competition.
If Siri adds in eBay and Amazon results, then it could become a starting point for commercial searches. As more commercial search goes to Siri, less goes to Google, and thus it generates less revenue.
The good news for Google is that Apple's Siri isn't very good right now. It's still a gimmick. And talking to your iPhone, or iPad is still really awkward if you're around other people.
The truth is that the odds for Siri's to really impact Google are slim. But, Apple isn't going to give up on Siri any time soon. And the longer it works at it, the better it should become. And the better Siri becomes, the greater the threat to Google it becomes.
On February 28, Axel Springer, Business Insider's parent company, joined 31 other media groups and filed a $2.3 billion suit against Google in Dutch court, alleging losses suffered due to the company's advertising practices.
