Credit: Robert Triggs / Android Authority
- According to a new report, Google could be paying Apple anywhere between $18 billion to $20 billion a year to remain the “dominant search engine in the iPhone.”
- Apple completely controls the iPhone, which estimatedly generates over $60 billion in advertising revenues.
- If regulators take a hard stance, this agreement between Google and Apple may not be sticking around for too long.
Google and Apple are competitors in many areas, primarily facing each other in the iOS vs Android debate. But the companies also contribute to each other’s balance sheets more directly. We already know that Google pays Apple to be the default search engine on iPhones. But as it turns out, it pays a lot of money for this.
According to The Register, citing a report from analyst firm Bernstein, Google pays Apple anywhere between $18 billion to $20 billion a year to remain the “dominant search engine in the iPhone.” This comment was made in the context of an Information Services Agreement (ISA) between Apple and Google that the US Department of Justice is investigating in an antitrust suit against Google.