Google pays Apple 36% of its Safari search advertising revenue

DOJ antitrust lawsuit targets Google’s multibillion-dollar default search pact with Apple

Google pays Apple 36% of the revenue it earns from search advertising made through the Safari browser, the main economics expert for the Alphabet subsidiary testified in court Monday.

Leah Nylen for Bloomberg News:

Kevin Murphy, a University of Chicago professor, disclosed the number during his testimony in Google’s defense at the Justice Department’s antitrust trial in Washington.

John Schmidtlein, Google’s main litigator, visibly cringed when Murphy said the number, which was supposed to remain confidential.

MacDailyNews Take: Tough shite and cringe some more, thieving bastards. (Excellent job, Kevin!)

The companies have had a partnership since 2002 that makes Google the default search engine in Apple’s Safari. Today that deal is the most important of Google’s default deals, since it sets the search engine for the iPhone, the most used smartphone in the US.

The Justice Department is targeting that agreement as evident Google is illegally maintaining its dominance over the search engine and search advertising markets.


MacDailyNews Take: Well, at least some of our old, long-forgotten profits that went the way of the dodo when Google monopolized the internet are going to Apple.

Again, Google monopolized both the search and online advertising markets years ago when they bought politicians via myriad campaign contributions (monetary and services provided) who then pushed through approval of Google’s acquisition of DoubleClick in 2007 that never should have been rubber stamped.

Unless Apple is somehow forced to divorce itself from Alphabets no-work-required billion of dollars annually to make Google the default search engine across Apple devices, Apple isn’t going to do it.

While we wish Apple wouldn’t take Google’s money because the monopolized online Search Engine + Digital Ad Network that exists today (and has for years) is bad for everyone not named Alphabet Inc., Apple certainly has the right to monetize Safari’s default search engine – until they don’t. With both companies so large, it may be — in fact, is very likely — that the deal stifles competition in the search engine field. Antitrust remedies are called for in such cases.MacDailyNews, September 11, 2023


Google is a massive problem that simply must be addressed. There is one “Big Tech” company that is really stifling competition and for which antitrust remedies are in order: Alphabet (Google).MacDailyNews, October 20, 2020


When one search engine has 86% [91.53% – Oct. 2023] share of the worldwide market (and Google basically isn’t even used in China), there is far, far, far too much power concentrated in one company. The whole concept of the World Wide Web is destroyed when a sole gatekeeper basically controls what gets seen, read, and heard. It’s not open, it’s completely closed and controlled.

Publishers who want to be read, for example, spend an inordinate amount of time making sure they follow Google’s dictates, nebulously sussed from Google’s secret algorithm, formatting their sites, even writing their articles a certain way, including certain words they might not choose if allowed to write freely, simply to please Google’s algorithm…

Hopefully, lawmakers can come together to figure out a way to do something to remedy the horribly uncompetitive situation in internet search. Google is, and has been for years, a perfect example of why antitrust laws exist. — MacDailyNews, July 29, 2020


With this unprecedented power, platforms have the ability to redirect into their pockets the advertising dollars that once went to newspapers and magazines. No one company should have the power to pick and choose which content reaches consumers and which doesn’t.MacDailyNews, November 9, 2017


Imagine if your livelihood depended on one company that had not only monopolized web search (and, thereby, basically controlled how new customers find you), but also controlled the bulk of online advertising dollars which funded your business and which they could pull, simply threaten to pull, or reduce rates at any time? Now also imagine if you believe this monopolist basically stole the product of another company that is the very subject of your business? How much would you criticize the monopolist thief’s business practices?

You might guess that it would be a tough road to walk. (We’re only imagining, of course!)

That would be a good example of why monopolies are bad for everyone.

The U.S. government has utterly failed to police Google. Because the people with the power to do so currently are corrupt. Follow the money. Hopefully, the European Union will help to correct the situation.

In the meantime, stop using Google search and Google products wherever possible. Monopolies are bad for everyone.
MacDailyNews, July 14, 2016

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