It has been revealed that Google paid $20 billion (approximately 27 trillion won) in 2022 to have its search engine set as the default on Apple iPhones.
According to Bloomberg and other sources on the 2nd (local time), this was disclosed in documents related to the 'Google Antitrust Lawsuit' trial held at the U.S. District Court in Washington D.C.
The U.S. Department of Justice filed a lawsuit claiming that Google paid huge sums to smartphone manufacturers like Apple and wireless carriers to restrict competition and consumer choice, thereby illegally maintaining its monopoly on search engines.
It was revealed that Google has paid Apple 36% of the revenue earned from search ads on the iPhone Safari browser. It is estimated that Google paid $18 billion (approximately 25 trillion won) in 2021 and $20 billion in 2022. The Department of Justice also presented data showing that Google spent $26.3 billion (approximately 36 trillion won) in 2021 to become the default search engine on PCs and mobile devices by paying manufacturers and others.
Apple and Google reportedly agreed in 2002 to allow free use of Google on the iPhone and subsequently decided to share search ad revenue.
Google rebutted by saying, "This is to ensure our search engine works well on devices like Apple’s," and claimed that its dominance in the search market is "the result of innovation."
Earlier, Microsoft (MS), which owns the Bing search engine, criticized the agreement between Google and Apple, stating, "We have tried for years to become the default search engine on the iPhone, but Apple did not seriously consider it." They also expressed concerns that "Google is likely to extend its search market dominance through AI-based tools."
Among the documents submitted to the court was an email from June 2019 sent by Kevin Scott, MS Chief Technology Officer (CTO), to MS founder Bill Gates and CEO Satya Nadella. CTO Scott mentioned that Google had built competitive and important AI infrastructure in the search field and emphasized the need to focus on OpenAI to counter this. MS subsequently made a large-scale investment in OpenAI.
The Department of Justice argued, "If Google had not monopolized the search market, innovative products like ChatGPT would have been released years ago."
The Google antitrust lawsuit, which began last September, is now down to the final arguments from both sides. The first trial verdict is expected in the second half of the year. If Google loses, there is speculation that it may have to change its business model or separate its business units.
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