According to court documents in the US antitrust case, Google paid $20 billion to Apple in 2022 to become the default search engine on Safari browsers on iPhones, iPads, and Macs.
The US Department of Justice accused Google in 2023 of having a monopoly in the search engine field and even paying Apple a substantial amount for it.
The Department of Justice and Google will present closing arguments in this case on Thursday and Friday (May 2-3), and the court is expected to make a judgment later this year.
Since 2002, Google has been the default search engine on Safari browsers on Apple devices. When Apple users purchase new devices, all searches conducted through Safari will use the Google search engine without any changes made.
The agreement with Apple is a crucial part of Google’s default transactions, as it sets the search engine for the most commonly used smartphones in the United States.
There is a secret agreement between Google and Apple. It is reported that Apple initially agreed to allow Google to be used for free in Safari browsers in 2002. However, the two companies later decided to share search advertising revenue.
Both parties did not want to disclose the amount of the agreement.
During the trial in the fall of 2023, Apple executives testified that Google paid “billions of dollars,” but did not provide specific numbers. A Google witness later accidentally revealed that Google paid Apple 36% of its search advertising revenue. Based on this estimate, Google paid Apple around $20 billion in 2022 alone.
This revenue is significant for Apple. According to filings from both companies, in 2020, the amount Google paid to Apple accounted for 17.5% of the iPhone manufacturer’s revenue.
Due to the large number of Apple users, Microsoft has tried several times to make Bing the default search engine on Apple devices.
Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella revealed in court in October 2023 that the agreement between Apple and Google prevented search engines like Bing from competing.
“Regardless of who they choose, they become the king,” Nadella said in reference to Apple.
While Microsoft attributes this to Google, Apple’s Eddy Cue stated that Apple is concerned Bing cannot compete in “quality and features.”
He mentioned that Apple selected Google as the default search engine for the iPhone because Apple has always believed it’s the “best.”
If Google loses in this lawsuit, the agreement between Apple and Google may be nullified.