Google filed an appeal challenging an antitrust ruling against its search business. The court previously found Google maintained monopolies in general search and search advertising in violation of Section 2 of the Sherman Act. During the remedies phase, the court addressed Google’s agreement with Apple, under which Apple set Google as the default search engine in Safari and received 36% of Safari search advertising revenue. Google paid Apple about $20 billion in 2022. The remedies allowed continued payments but added limits, including non-exclusivity, restrictions on blocking rival search and generative AI products, and a 12-month default limit that prevents revenue sharing from being conditioned on remaining the default beyond one year.
"After having carefully considered and weighed the witness testimony and evidence, the court reaches the following conclusion: Google is a monopolist, and it has acted as one to maintain its monopoly. It has violated Section 2 of the Sherman Act."
"Apple set Google as the default search engine in Safari on iPhone, iPad, and Mac, in exchange for 36% of the search advertising revenue generated through Safari. In practice, as court documents revealed, Google paid Apple around $20 billion in 2022 alone."
"Judge Mehta allowed Google to keep paying Apple for default placement in Safari, but imposed new limits on those agreements. Under the new terms, Google can no longer make the Safari agreement exclusive or prevent Apple from promoting rival search engines (or generative AI products). Perhaps more importantly, he also imposed a 12-month default limit."
"As a result, Google can't condition revenue sharing on keeping any Google service as the default for more than 1 year, which, in practice, means Google's competitors will get a yearly shot at offering Apple a better deal."
Read at 9to5Mac
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