Google Pays Apple $15 Billion To Remain As Default Search Engine In 2021
Image via Yeamake / Shutterstock.com
Every year, Google has to cough up quite a bit of its budget to Apple in order to ensure that it retains its place as the default search engine on iOS and macOS devices. In 2017, it was reported that the search giant paid US$3 billion.
Four years later, that amount has quintupled.
Sitting five times heavier at an estimated total sum of US$15 billion, this transaction was noticed by Ped30. In the investor note, Bernstein analysts also reveal that the number is predicted to reach a potential US$20 billion next year. However, the memo states that it’s “not implausible that Google could revisit its strategy.”
It has also been reported that Toni Sacconaghi, Bernstein analyst, feels that it’s likely that Google keeps paying up just to ensure that “Microsoft doesn’t outbid it.”
There are two potential risks to this; the first being a regulatory risk. It’s not likely to hit Apple anytime soon, but “adverse ruling” could see a 4–5% impact on the tech giant’s gross profits. The second is that Google may choose to stop paying altogether, as mentioned above.
An earlier interview with Apple’s senior director of global privacy, Jane Horvath, reveals the reason that Apple keeps Google close by, despite growing privacy concerns. “Right now, Google is the most popular search engine. We do support Google but we also have built-in support for DuckDuckGo, and we recently also rolled out support for Ecosia.”
That being said, as far as search giants go, Google still largely dominates the scene. As mentioned, alternatives like DuckDuckGo and Ecosia do exist, but to reach the level that Google has won’t happen overnight, even if the latter ultimately decided that the billions of dollars weren’t worth it.
But frankly, there doesn’t seem to be much of a risk of Bing becoming the ultimate go-to, is there?
[via 9to5Mac, image via Yeamake / Shutterstock.com]
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