Google paid $1 billion to Apple to be the default search engine on iOS

[Hannibal XKeymaster 23 pts]

Google paid $1 billion to Apple to be the default search engine on iOS
by Heidi Moore

The documents show that Google paid Apple $1 billion in 2014 to be the preferred search engine on the iPhone, reported Bloomberg News. The two companies then agreed to share revenue — presumably from search ads — but it’s not clear how the money was split.

Apple and Google both lobbied the court to strike the details of their search deal from court documents, Bloomberg reported, with Google arguing it was “highly sensitive.” When Google asked the court to hide the details of the deal, it said the information could hinder similar deals with other companies, indicating that Google has muscled its way into default status on other platforms as well.

There is no mention of the arrangement — and no mention of Apple at all — in Google’s most recent quarterly report to shareholders, which is designed to mention any “material,” or important, business arrangements publicly. It’s not clear if Google considers the $1 billion arrangement “material.”

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