Google paid $20 Billion (~RM9,541,500,000) to Apple in 2022 to be the default search engine in the Safari Browser

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Looks like the Internet just got more interesting. Recently, the U.S. Department of Justice (DoJ) last year accused Google of "possessing a monopoly in the search engine field" and even paid Apple huge sums of money for it. That said, what should you know about it?

According to Bloomberg, the latest antitrust trial document released by the U.S. Department of Justice shows that Google paid Apple an amount of US$20 billion in 2022 (according to the agreement) so that Google can become the iPhone, the default search engine in Safari on iPad and Mac.

Furthermore, Google has been the default search engine on Apple devices since 2002, and although the agreement has been renegotiated multiple times, Apple and Google are still trying to keep the terms of the agreement secret. After unremitting efforts by the U.S. Department of Justice, Google finally began to relent.

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In addition, a lawsuit filed in November last year showed that Google’s payment to Apple accounted for 36% of Apple’s total Safari revenue. It now appears that this fee has reached at least $20 billion. Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella testified in October last year that the agreement between Apple and Google made it impossible for search engines such as Bing to compete. It is said that Microsoft once hoped that Apple would acquire Bing, but Apple was not interested.

While Microsoft blames Google, Apple's Eddy Cue said Apple is concerned that Bing won't be able to compete on "quality and functionality." He said that the reason why Apple uses Google as the default search engine for the iPhone is because Apple has always believed that it is "the best."

If Google loses this lawsuit, the agreement between Apple and Google may be annulled. Closing arguments are expected on Thursday and Friday, with the judge expected to make a final ruling later in 2024. We have yet to confirm other details on this news. But, it will be interesting to see how iOS users in Malaysia will react to it.


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