The Cult of Mac website has found a reference to a project manager Apple is looking for “to work on ‘a search platform supporting hundreds of millions of users’ and ‘play a part in revolutionizing how people use their computers and mobile devices,’” reports Engadget.

The story continues, “Assuming that Apple really is building a search engine, chances are it’s not likely to be a direct attack on Google — no one is going to switch their search engine to applesearch.com, and Apple knows that. Instead, any search effort is far more likely to be baked into Siri, Safari and Spotlight, i.e. places where most won’t dig through the options and change their search engine.”

The article notes “Mozilla removed Google as the default search provider for its browser just a few months ago, and it’s already led to Google’s marketshare dropping sharply, according to StatCounter. Even though users have the option to set their default search engine, usage of Google on Firefox fell from 82 percent to 64 percent over the past three months. Applying the same tactic to Safari would seriously affect Google’s marketshare. “

The story concludes, “[W]ith over a billion iOS devices out in the wild, responsible for a lot of searches, a search engine would be an easy way for Apple to pitch a tent in Google’s backyard.”