Document: Apple Maintains A Search Index Of Billions Of Websites

Aug 7, 2024 - 7:51 am 4 by

Apple Index Server Room

As part of the DOJ ruling that Google is a monopoly, the document noted that Apple has its own search index and the index size is of billions of websites. The specific number was redacted but it said, "Apple maintains an index of about X billion websites."

This was on page 15 of the document and it goes on to say, "although it does not presently plan to use that index to offer a results page." This was quoting John Giannandrea who left Google to work at Apple back in 2018.

Here is a screenshot of this:

Google Doj Apple Index Doc

Another interesting thing John Giannandrea said there was "What you include in the index matters a lot," adding the more sites in an index, the better." The funny thing is that Google stopped touting its index size back almost two decades ago, in 2005 basically saying later that Google has no indexing limit but does have limited indexing resources. Which is why many sites that aren't "quality enough" do not get indexed these days.

So I do wonder if index size is that important these days or if Apple's billion site index is good enough?

Forum discussion at X.

 

Popular Categories

The Pulse of the search community

Search Video Recaps

 
- YouTube
Video Details More Videos Subscribe to Videos

Most Recent Articles

Search Forum Recap

Daily Search Forum Recap: June 20, 2025

Jun 20, 2025 - 10:00 am
Search Video Recaps

Search News Buzz Video Recap: Google Search Volatility, AI Mode in Search Console, Audio Overviews and ChatGPT Search Quality

Jun 20, 2025 - 8:01 am
Google Search Engine Optimization

Google: Larger & Longer Issues Can Take Longer To Reverse In Google Search

Jun 20, 2025 - 7:51 am
Google Search Engine Optimization

Google Troubleshooting On Blocking Content From AI Mode & AI Overviews

Jun 20, 2025 - 7:41 am
Google

Google Video Search Tests Speaker Icon With Language Label

Jun 20, 2025 - 7:31 am
Google

Google Investigating Search Clicks Leading To Translated Results

Jun 20, 2025 - 7:21 am
Previous Story: Google Business Profiles Call Data Gone From Performance Report