Apple’s lucrative Internet search engine deal with Google may be in trouble

Apple’s (very) lucrative deal with Google that makes it the default search engine on Safari may be in danger, according to The Information (a subscription is required to read the article).

This comes as a judge is expected to rule on the U.S. Department of Justice’s antitrust lawsuit against Google over its dominance of Internet search. Its possible that the judge could put the kibosh on the Apple/Google deal.

In May it was reported that Google’s Alphabet paid Apple US$20 billion in 2022 to be Safari’s default search engine according to newly unsealed court documents in the Justice Department’s antitrust lawsuit against Google, reports Bloomberg.

What’s more, in February a class-action lawsuit against Apple and Google that suggested the company CEOs met in secret to collude on the suppression of the search market. However, the lawsuit was dismissed by a judge in California. The lawsuit said that Google struck a deal making its search engine the default on Apple’s Safari web browser specifically to keep Apple from competing in the general search market. 

These payments to Apple, the lawsuit alleged, have “stunted innovation” and “deprived” users of “quality, service, and privacy that they otherwise would have enjoyed but for Google’s anticompetitive conduct.” California Judge Rita Lin dismissed all claims made by the plaintiffs but left the opportunity for one claim to be amended for reexamination.