Google Paid Apple $20 Billion in 2022 to be Default Search Engine in Safari

Google paid Apple $20 billion to be the default search engine for Safari in 2022, reports Bloomberg. The figure was discovered in unsealed documents filed as part of the Justice Department's antitrust lawsuit against Google.

The two companies had tried to prevent the number from leaking out to the public. Apple executives who testified in the case, only disclosed that the company had paid 'billions'.

Court documents filed late Tuesday ahead of the closing arguments mark the first public confirmation of the figures by Apple's senior vice president of services, Eddy Cue. Such numbers aren't disclosed by either company in their securities filings. The documents also revealed the importance of the payments to Apple's bottom line. For instance, in 2020, Google's payments to Apple constituted 17.5% of the iPhone maker's operating income.


Back in 2002, Apple agreed to use Google as its default browser for free. However, by May 2021, Google was paying Apple more than $1 billion a month.

Microsoft has made many attempts to get Apple to switch to Bing, even offering to share up to 90% of advertising revenue, but Apple has stuck with Google.

More details in the full report linked below...

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