Bing To Be Default Search Engine On Verizon Android Phones?

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Bing and Droid. Two very recongizable TV marketing campagins are about to come together. If recent online rumors are to be believed. It’s being reported that Verizon is about to announce that Bing will be the standard search engine on all of their Android phones going forward. What does Google feel about this?

Such a deal would be nothing new. At AT&T’s request, Yahoo was the default search engine on the Motorola Backflip. Likewise in China, after the fallout from the China-Google debacle, many Chinese Android phones from multiple carriers come with Yahoo as the default search engine. Chinese search giant Baidu recently said they wanted to start getting in on Android phones, and they probably will.

The alleged Bing-Verizon deal brings back memories of an agreement signed between Microsoft and Verizon in 2009 that would make Bing the standard search engine on all Verizon phones. For whatever reason, the Droids (and the rest of Verizon’s Android offerings) have been exempt from that five-year deal. We know Google played a big part in the first Motorola Droid’s development, so that could be one of the reasons.

This has got to hit Google where it hurts. The company has faced criticism from Wall Street over the profitability (or lack there of) of Android – and with the #1 US carrier going to another search engine on Google’s own operating system, it can’t be good. Although modders will likely find a way to replace Bing with Google on the phones – that doesn’t do anything for the masses who will likely be satisfied with “search” on their Android devices.

You’ve got to imagine this will burn some bridges between Verizon and Google, or at least, start a small fire. It’s almost like another phone is coming to Verizon that would lessen the importance of their relationship with Google. But that’s just conjecture.

We should note that the alleged Verizon-Bing deal is unconfirmed by either party. We’ve reached out to Verizon for comment and will update this story accordingly.