- Google pays Apple 36% of search revenue it gets when people use the Safari browser.
- That’s on top of the $18 billion a year it’s paying Apple just to be Apple’s default search engine.
- Google would probably reaaaaaalllly prefer if you used Chrome on your phone.
The federal antitrust case against Google had an astonishing reveal Monday: Google pays Apple 36% of the search revenue it gets when people use the Safari browser.
That figure was apparently not supposed to be disclosed in open court, but a witness mentioned it, leading Google’s lawyer to “visibly cringe.” (Alphabet CEO Sundar Pichai confirmed the number today in testimony for a different antitrust lawsuit.)
Coughing up 36% of search revenue is eye-popping. It’s like … A LOT. A whole lot. Ooodles of clams. A gazoongle of beans.
Consider that Epic Games is currently suing Google in an antitrust case — and that centers on the smaller 30% cut Google takes from in-app purchases through the Google Play Store. Apple also takes 30% of in-app purchases through its App Store.
Essentially, Google is willing to take a worse deal from Apple than it gives to Candy Crush.
And that’s on top of the $18 billion Google paid Apple in 2021 just to be the default search engine on Apple devices. Basically, it’s like Google is paying a hefty cover charge at the door to go to a party — and then it’s not even open bar.
You can certainly imagine why Google would really love iPhone users to download the Chrome app and set that as their default search engines.
Chrome is far more popular than Apple-owned Safari, especially on desktop computers. But Safari still makes up about 27% of browsers when considering all devices, including mobile phones, according to data from Similarweb.
For context, Google’s total search revenue was in $279.8 billion in 2022. We don’t have the details, but some rough back-of-the-envelope calculations show that the 36% cut that Google pays Apple could be more than $20 billion for 2022 alone, when considering Safari’s market share.
Add on the $18 billion just for Chrome to be the default browser on Apple devices, and that’s a massive number — and a not insignificant chunk of Apple’s yearly revenue. (Its annual revenue was nearly $400 billion last year.)
You’d think for all that, Apple would finally allow Android users to shed the green bubble shame and get iMessage.
