Google has been Apple’s default search engine since 2002, although Safari, the computer maker’s web browser, didn’t debut until a year later. Suffice it to say that the relationship between the two companies is deep and everyone benefits from it, both Google and Apple. And even a lot of Apple!
The legal battle between Google and the American government continues to shed light on the company’s practices to remain a leader in search engines. One of them is to pay Apple a big price for making it the default search engine for Safari… but how much? The information is obviously a trade secret that a witness may have leaked!
Billions of dollars in Apple’s pocket
Kevin Murphy, a professor at the University of Chicago, clearly told the truth in his testimony yesterday. He actually explained that Google paid Apple 36% of the revenue generated from display advertising in search results using Safari, and thus from Google. Since this public revelation made the company’s lead lawyer spook, we can therefore imagine that this is actually the correct number…
Both Google and Apple have opposed publicly disclosing the details of this agreement. The search engine argued that publicly disclosing this information would “unreasonably harm Google’s competitive position relative to competitors.” We thank you for your confidentiality…
What was certain so far was that Google’s check was sizeable. In 2021, the group would have paid Apple $18 billion, a staggering sum that can be explained by the ever-increasing number of the brand’s devices in circulation around the world.
Read about Google paying Apple an insane amount to become Safari’s default search engine
In 2016, the two companies renegotiated the terms of their agreement, with one clear demand from Apple: to increase the share of revenue generated by Safari. Google has undoubtedly responded to the request of the manufacturer whose products, especially the iPhone, are essential.
Source: Bloomberg
Originally posted 2023-11-14 07:10:13.