There’s a chance that Google will soon no longer be the default search engine on your iPhone. Here’s why.
Google may disappear from your iPhone
Google has been paying Apple billions of dollars a year for some time now, making it the default search engine on the iPhone and virtually all other Apple devices. However, a judge has now ruled that Google is completely shutting out the competition in this way. And that is something that is against the antitrust law.
The agreements between Google and Apple (and other smartphone manufacturers) have of course had a significant effect on maintaining Google’s long-standing search monopoly. Other search engines are virtually unable to compete on the iPhone, which only strengthens Google’s dominant position. Google has a market share of 95 percent on smartphones. And that is largely due to the agreements the company pays for.
No more future agreements
In 2022, Google paid Apple $20 billion. As a result, Apple does not offer any opportunities to other search engines. The court therefore indicates that Google is a monopolist and has acted as such to allow the monopoly to continue. Apple has thus Section 2 of the Sherman Act to violate.
The court must now decide on the next steps to be taken to tackle Google’s anti-competitive practices. For now, it looks like Google and Apple will no longer be able to enter into such agreements for the iPhone, among other things.
This will of course result in a loss of revenue for both companies. Apple will no longer receive billions for promoting Google Search on virtually all hardware, and Google will lose the default option on billions of Apple devices. Google will probably appeal the decision. The company may still be able to turn the tide.
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