What you need to know
- Apple is seeking to defend its deal with Google, which provides revenue sharing through Search.
- This comes after the DOJ threatened to break up Google’s business after a court found that it holds an illegal monopoly.
- Google has since proposed its own remedies to satisfy the court, arguing that its extreme measures could result in a worse product for consumers.
Google’s recent legal troubles have taken an interesting turn, as Apple has made a motion to participate in an upcoming hearing to defend the company and their joint Search deal (via Reuters). This follows a recent proposal by the DOJ to break up Google’s business by potentially selling Chrome and prohibiting search distribution agreements with companies like Apple.
Apple’s declaration explains why its deal with Google is beneficial to both companies and that the DOJ’s proposed remedies to prevent such a deal would do more harm than good. Apple states that setting Google Search as the default search engine on Safari provides a better experience for users and that removing it would “hamstring Apple’s ability to continue delivering products that best serve its users’ needs,” adding that its customers “prefer Google.”
Apple receives billions from Google per year through the ad-sharing deal ($20 billion in 2022). The company argues that prohibiting such a deal would either give Google free access to its customers’ data or Apple would have to remove Search as the default engine on its browser, which it says would provide a potentially worse experience for its users.
Cupertino also argues that the DOJ’s proposed remedy assumed that Apple is even interested in developing its own search engine, which it says it’s not. According to Apple, doing so would take considerable time, money, and resources for something that isn’t part of Apple’s core business.
According to Bloomberg, a hearing for proposals is set to happen in April.
Following the ruling earlier this year that Google holds an illegal search monopoly, the search giant lambasted the DOJ’s “extreme” proposal while countering with remedies of its own. This includes additional flexibility for partners when choosing default search engines across devices. OEMs would also have flexibility in preloading multiple search engines, which Google says could give “rivals like Microsoft more chances to bid for placement.”
And while Google believes its proposal would address the court’s findings, the company still seems reluctant to implement these remedies, as it would “impose burdensome restrictions” on its partners.