Skip to main content

Google Allegedly Pays Apple Portion of Chrome Search Revenue as Part of Secretive Non-Compete Deal

Google allegedly pays Apple a portion of all search revenue from Chrome for iOS in what appears to be a non-compete deal, The Register reports.


According to a source said to be familiar with the matter who spoke to The Register, Google has been paying Apple a portion of search revenue generated by Chrome users on iOS in return for being the default search provider in Safari and other commercial benefits. The relationship between Apple and Google is an ongoing area of scrutiny for the U.S. Justice Department and the UK's Competition and Markets Authority (CMA), which are apparently looking into the secretive search revenue sharing deal.

Google pays Apple around $15 billion annually to ensure that its search engine is the default option on Apple devices, but the latest news that Google is purportedly paying Apple for searches in Chrome for iOS as part of a search revenue sharing deal is a new development. The revenue sharing agreement is said to be known about in detail by only a small number of people. The amount Google is paying Apple and the wider terms of the deal have been redacted from CMA reports.

Apple does not provide any obvious value to users seeking to use Google Search within Google Chrome for iOS. As a result, the CMA is concerned that the payments are designed to discourage Apple from competing with Google with its own search engine, which would have major ramifications for Google's business model.

The arrangement was first alluded to publicly in an antitrust lawsuit filed on December 27, 2021 in San Francisco. In an amended PDF from March 2022 related to the lawsuit, the complaint alleges that Apple has been paid for the profits it would have made if it had competed with Google, minus the challenges and costs of actually doing so:

20. Because more than half of Google's search business was conducted through Apple devices, Apple was a major potential threat to Google, and that threat was designated by Google as "Code Red."
21. Google paid billions of dollars to Apple and agreed to share its profits with Apple to eliminate the threat and fear of Apple as a competitor.
22. Google viewed the aspect of Apple as a potential competitor to be "Code Red."
23. If Apple became a competitor in the search business, Google would have lost half of its business.


Apple and Google are seeking a dismissal for the case on account of lack of evidence of a horizontal agreement between the two companies, but the CMA's investigation now seems to suggest that such an agreement does exist.

This may explain why Apple has been reluctant to launch a rival search engine or develop Safari to the point of becoming a credible challenger to Chrome on macOS, according to The Register. Likewise, Google would be disincentivized from pushing Apple to allow a non-WebKit version of Chrome for iOS.

The result is a situation where Apple and Google see substantial benefits in maintaining each others' dominance. This division of the market is said to be "per se illegal" under U.S. antitrust laws and is likely to come under fire as more information emerges.
This article, "Google Allegedly Pays Apple Portion of Chrome Search Revenue as Part of Secretive Non-Compete Deal" first appeared on MacRumors.com

Discuss this article in our forums



Source: TechRadar

Popular posts from this blog

iPhone 14 Color Options: Which Color Should You Choose?

The iPhone 14 models are available in a range of color options, with entirely new hues available on both sets of devices, as well as some popular classics. The ‌iPhone 14‌ and iPhone 14 Pro lineups have different colors to choose from, so if you have your heart set on a particular shade, you may not be able to get your preferred model in that color. Check out our guide on the ‌iPhone 14 Pro‌ color options for more information about those devices. The ‌iPhone 14‌ and ‌iPhone 14‌ Plus are now available in a total of six colors, four of which are new shades. Although previous standard iPhone lineup color options have tended to be bolder and brighter, in 2022, Apple chose to offer a slightly more muted color palette, with the exception of a brighter PRODUCT(RED) and Yellow. The ‌iPhone 14‌ and ‌iPhone 14‌ Plus's six available color options are: Midnight Starlight PRODUCT(RED) Blue Purple Yellow Midnight and Starlight were carried over from the iPhone 13 lineup,

New MacBook Air Rumored to Launch in April With These 5 New Features

Apple plans to release a new MacBook Air with a larger 15-inch display in April , according to display industry analyst Ross Young. The laptop is expected to be powered by the M2 chip and will likely support Wi-Fi 6E and Bluetooth 5.3. While we wait for the new MacBook Air to be announced, we have recapped five new features that have been rumored or are likely to be included. 15-Inch Display The new MacBook Air is expected to be equipped with a larger 15.5-inch display , which would be the largest ever for the laptop. The current MacBook Air has a 13.6-inch display, and the laptop was offered in an 11-inch size many years ago. While a new 13-inch MacBook Air with an OLED display is rumored to launch in 2024, the 15-inch model is expected to have a traditional LCD. M2 Chip Like the 13-inch MacBook Air, the 15-inch model will reportedly be available with the M2 chip . Apple says the M2 chip has up to an 18% faster CPU, up to a 35% faster GPU, and up to a 40% faster Neural E

T-Mobile to Acquire Ryan Reynolds' Mint Mobile Brand

U.S. carrier T-Mobile today announced that it plans to acquire Mint Mobile, the affordable smartphone brand that is promoted by and backed by actor Ryan Reynolds. Reynolds and T-Mobile CEO Mike Sievert teamed up for a video letting customers know about the coming acquisition. The deal is for Ka'ena Corporation, the parent company of Mint Mobile, Ultra Mobile, and Plum, with T-Mobile paying up to $1.35 billion, split into 39 percent cash and 61 percent stock. The final purchase price will be settled later this year after the deal closes. T-Mobile plans to continue Mint Mobile's $15 per month pricing option, which provides 4GB of high-speed 4G or 5G data along with unlimited text and talk. T-Mobile is purchasing Mint Mobile's sales, marketing, digital, and service operations, and says that it will use the T-Mobile supplier relationships and distribution scale to help Mint Mobile grow. Mint Mobile's "industry leading" marketing expertise will be incorpor

Apple's First OLED iPad: All the Rumors So Far

Apple is developing OLED technology for the iPad , and the new displays are expected to come to the iPad Pro models as soon as next year. This guide aggregates everything we know about Apple's plans for the OLED ‌iPad‌. Sizing Apple is expected to offer the first OLED iPads in sizes that are similar to the current ‌iPad Pro‌ sizes, providing one smaller 10.9 to 11.1-inch model and a larger 12.9 to 13-inch model (rumors vary slightly on target display size). In the future, OLED ‌iPad‌ models could be as large as 15 inches . Rumors suggest that Apple supplier BOE is developing OLED displays as large as 15 inches, which could be used for a larger-sized ‌iPad‌. According to Bloomberg 's Mark Gurman , Apple is considering iPads that exceed 12.9 inches, and in 2021, he claimed that larger sizes were a "couple of years down the road, but could be scrapped all together. OLED Improvements Compared to the mini-LED technology that Apple uses for the 12.9-inch ‌iPad Pro‌