U.S. Anti-trust Suit Against Google Centers on Search Deal with Apple

New York, NY, October 21, 2020-The Justice Department is filing an antitrust suit against Google based on its search deals with Apple, for which the company was paid as much as $11 billion--approximately one third of the firm's income, reports the Wall Street Journal.

“Google’s partnership with Apple is at the heart of the U.S. Department of Justice antitrust lawsuit claiming that the Alphabet Inc. unit misused its power in an anticompetitive manner, potentially threatening a major revenue stream for both tech giants.

“It has long been known that Google relies on search traffic from Apple’s popular line of phones. Google’s flagship search engine is the preset default on Apple’s Safari phone browser, meaning that when consumers enter a term on their phone, they are automatically fed Google search results-and related advertising.

“What’s new is just how central it is to both companies, and to the antitrust case. While the government stopped short Tuesday of asking for specific remedies, the prominence of the Apple arrangement in the lawsuit leaves little doubt that the Justice Department will seek to intercede.”