In 2016 Vole thought that it would be the only way it could compete with Alphabet's dominant Google search

Microsoft business development vice president Jon Tinter told a court into Google's anti-trust antics that Microsoft Chief Executive Officer Satya Nadella met with Apple CEO Tim Cook as part of the talk.

Microsoft would have taken a multi-billion dollar loss on the terms of the deal, Tinter said, but it would have bolstered Bing, eventually gaining more share and revenue. Microsoft had secured a deal for Apple to use Bing in Siri and Spotlight, an Apple feature to help find apps on iPhones from 2013 to 2017, but wanted to expand to Safari.

Instead, Google wound up expanding its own deal with Apple to the products that had used Bing and shutting Microsoft out

Microsoft’s chief of advertising and web services told the court that Apple was never serious about using Bing, it just wanted a tactic it could use against Google to keep its price down.

“It is no secret that Apple is making more money on Bing existing than Bing does,’’ he told the court.