Google claims Apple chose its search engine as the default way to search it its Safari browser on the iPhone due to it “just working harder.” They claim it has nothing to do with the multiple billions it pays Apple for the search catbird seat on iPhones, iPads, and Macs.
Google last week filed an appeal over a 2024 ruling by US federal judge Amit Mehta that Google had violated US antitrust law, due to it holding a monopoly in the search and advertising field.
One of the key elements in the trial was whether Apple and Google’s multi-billion dollar search deal equaled anti-competitive behavior. Google pays Apple somewhere around $20 billion per year to be the Safari browser’s default search engine.
Friday’s appeal by Google with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit claims the district court had erred when it ruled that the search giant’s search success was not due to being better than its search rivals.
For its part, Google its search engine is the top dog thanks to its ability to innovate, invest, and “just working harder.” It claims the billions of dollars it pays Apple has nothing to do with its success.
Whether or not Google has monopoly power, Google did nothing that “harm[ed] the competitive process.” It did not impede its rivals’ opportunity to make—or Apple’s and Mozilla’s ability to choose—a better offer. Indeed, there is no finding—or even any evidence—that Google’s customers would have chosen a rival, even in the absence of the challenged agreements. Google just prevailed in the marketplace fair and square.
The filing also points out the alternative browser options in Safari’s browser settings. Google is asking to have the measures put in place to resolve its search monopoly be reversed, including being ordered to share its search data, information on user interaction, and results with competing search companies. So far, Google has been able to avoid doing any of that, at least until an appeal ruling is made.
Google is also looking to have AI companies like OpenAI be excluded from receiving its data. Google argues that AI companies are “already succeeding as wildly as any technology in human history without any need to free-ride on Google’s success.”
Oral arguments for Google’s appeal have not yet been scheduled, so the appeal is likely to stretch until late late this year or early 2027.
