According to a new report, Google Search’s default status on Apple’s Safari browser cost Google even more in 2022. As some of you may recall, Google paid Apple $18 billion in 2021 for that privilege.
Google Search’s default status on Apple’s Safari cost Google even more in 2022
In 2022, Google had to pay $20 billion in order for Google Search to remain the default option on Safari. This information comes from court documents related to the DOJ’s antitrust case against Google. These documents are not new, but they just got unsealed.
That confirmation comes from Apple’s senior vice president of services, Eddy Cue. What also got revealed is how important Google is to Apple as well. 17.5% of Apple’s operating income came from Google in 2020.
Moves like these are a big part of the DOJ’s case against Google. The Department of Justice is trying to prove Google monopolized online search and related advertising. The closing arguments in that case are coming today and tomorrow.
Both Google and Apple would have preferred to keep the exact sum under wraps, of course. That did not happen, however. Apple did say, during the trial, that it paid ‘billions’, without mentioning the exact amount.
One of Google’s witnesses revealed something even more interesting
What’s even more interesting is that one of Google’s witnesses revealed that Google pays 36% of the money it earns from Search ads to Apple. By doing some basic math, that means that Google earns somewhere between $55-56 billion from Google Search if we’re looking at things from the net income side. This calculation could be off, though, of course.
Apple’s users can easily change their default engine on iPhones, of course. Not many of them want that, as Google is… well, Google. It’s best known as a search engine. However, if you go into Settings -> Safari, and then to Search Engine, you’ll be able to tap ‘Google’ and see some other options.
