Google has appealed a 2024 ruling that found it violated antitrust law by paying to be the default search engine on iPhones, reports MacRumors.
In a filing with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit, the company said the district court made an error when concluding that Google’s search success was due to anything other than competition on merit.
From the filing: 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.
This is part of an ongoing legal battle. On Aug. 5, 2024, U.S. District Court Judge Amit Mehta in Washington, D.C., ruled that Google had illegally monopolized the search market, “handing the government an epic win in its first major antitrust case against a tech giant in more than two decades. He said that the Alphabet unit’s US$26 billion in payments to make its search engine the default option on smartphones and web browsers effectively blocked any other competitor from succeeding in the market.
Mehta said that Google’s agreements with Apple and other smartphone makers have a “significant effect” maintaining Google’s search monopoly, keeping other search engines from competing and reinforcing Google’s dominant position.
A 2023 New York Times report said Google paid Apple “around $18 billion” in 2021 to be the default search engine in Safari on Macs, iPads, and iPhones. The terms and effects of Apple’s deal with Google have become the centerpiece of the US v. Google trial.
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