Yahoo may be scheming to take over search on your iPhone

Yahoo’s search engine market share continues to decline, but chief executive Marissa Mayer is on a mission to drastically boost its relevance.

The CEO is reportedly trying to convince Apple to make Yahoo Search the default search engine on iOS in Safari, says Re/code. Capturing such a massive share of the mobile search market would be an incredible win for Yahoo, but doing so won’t be easy.

The effort, which reportedly also involves Yahoo SVP of mobile Adam Cahan, is said to be in very early stages. Still, Yahoo is apparently far enough along to create a report pitching the idea.

While the likelihood that this will actually happen is slim, Apple has long sought to divorce itself entirely from Google — ever since Steve Jobs vowed to destroy Android. Meanwhile, Apple has teamed up to Yahoo in the past. Apple’s weather app, for example, was built in partnership with Yahoo.

Mayer said last year that Yahoo launched more than 100 search experiments “to refine and enhance the search experience for users and advertisers,” according to Search Engine Land. Although Yahoo is limited by a contractual agreement with Microsoft, the company appears determined to restore its relevance in search.