In 2022, Google paid Apple $20 billion to become the default search engine in the Safari browser. Court documents in the US Department of Justice’s lawsuit against the tech giant reveal this.
Since September 2023, Google has been in a major legal battle after the Department of Justice sued the tech giant for engaging in anti-competitive practices. Specifically, the lawsuit targets Google’s dominance in the search engine industry, alleging that Google has illegally cemented its dominance by striking costly deals with browser and phone makers.
Google’s deal with Apple has been of particular interest, but both parties have been reluctant to disclose details of the agreements. Last fall, Apple executives testified that Google had paid “billions,” but did not provide specific figures. A witness later revealed, reportedly by mistake, that Google pays Apple 36% of search ad revenue.
Court documents now reveal the official figures of the agreement between the two tech giants, Bloomberg reports. They show that Google paid Apple $20 billion to become the default search engine in the Safari browser in 2022.
The documents also reveal Apple’s bottom line, showing, among other things, that Google will account for 17.5% of its operating profit in 2020. The Apple deal is the most significant of Google’s standard agreements, establishing the search engine on the most widely used smartphone in the United States.
The Justice Department and Google will present closing arguments in the case on Thursday and Friday, with a decision expected later this year.