Google Agrees to $26 Billion Deal to Remain Default Search Engine in 2021
During the antitrust trial on Friday, a senior executive from Google testified that the company spent $26.3 billion to secure its search engine as the default option on web browsers and mobile phones.
The number of payments Alphabet Inc.’s Google makes to other companies for default space — such as Apple Inc. for investing in iPhones and other devices — has more than tripled since 2014, said Prabhakar Raghavan, who is responsible for both search and advertising.
Google’s search advertising generated $146.4 billion in revenue in 2021, which has also risen over the same years, Raghavan said. Default charges were the company’s biggest cost, he added.
Google resisted disclosing the numbers, saying they would hinder the company’s ability to negotiate contracts in the future. But the judge overseeing the case, Amit Mehta, ruled that the figures should be made public.
