Google Paid Apple A Whopping $22 Billion To Be Safari’s Default Search Engine In 2022

It is widely known that Google pays Apple a substantial amount to maintain its position as the default search engine for the Safari web browser on iOS and macOS. Earlier in 2021, Google paid $15 billion to retain its status as the default search engine on Apple platforms. Now, a new report has revealed the amount Google spent to uphold the deal in 2022.

News agency Bloomberg reports that Google paid Apple approximately $20 billion in 2022 to maintain its search engine as the default option in Safari. The amount that Google paid Apple was revealed via documents in the US Department of Justice’s (DOJ) antitrust lawsuit against Google.

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The agreement between Google and Apple is a primary focus of the lawsuit, as the DOJ contends that Google has monopolised online searches through its dominant position.

The partnership between Apple and Google originated in 2002, but it wasn't until later that the companies agreed to share revenue from search ads. Earlier reports have indicated that Microsoft attempted to negotiate with Apple to make Bing the default search engine in Safari and even offered to sell Bing to Apple. With rumours circulating that Apple is negotiating with Google to incorporate Gemini into iOS 18, it is likely that the Cupertino-based company will soon receive even more revenue from Google.

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In November, legal documents from the lawsuit revealed that Google was allocating 36 per cent of its total revenue generated from searches on Safari, amounting to $20 billion. 

Notably, Google has served as the default search engine on Apple devices since 2002, with the deal undergoing renegotiation on multiple occasions. Despite efforts by Apple and Google to maintain confidentiality surrounding the terms of their search engine agreement both during the trial and beforehand, it has been widely acknowledged that Google pays Apple billions annually.

Google serves as the default search engine on Apple devices in the majority of countries, although users have the option to switch to alternatives such as Yahoo, Bing, DuckDuckGo, and Ecosia. Changing search engines requires accessing the Safari settings.