Although Google and Apple have never disclosed an exact amount, it's widely known that the search giant pays the iPhone maker billions each year to remain the default search engine on the iPhone, Mac and the rest of its devices.
However, a new class action lawsuit has been filed in California that claims the arrangement hurts other search engine companies as well as the businesses who place ads with Google. It goes a step further though by suggesting that Apple and Google should be broken up into smaller companies for violating US antitrust laws.
What's particularly interesting about this lawsuit is that if it makes it as far as the discovery process, we could finally learn the exact amount that Google pays Apple each year to be the default search engine on its devices.
According to a recent estimate by the financial services firm AB Bernstein in an investor note seen by Ped30, Google's payments to Apple could be between $18bn to $20bn this year based on disclosures in Apple's public filings and from an analysis of Google's traffic acquisition costs (TAC) payments.
Class action antitrust case
The lawsuit itself was filed by Alioto Law Firm on behalf of California Crane School which provides courses across the US for mobile crane operator certifications.
In a press release announcing the lawsuit, Alioto Law Firm lays out the claims put forth against the two tech giants by the company, saying:
“The complaint claims that the means used to effectuate the non-compete agreement...
Read Full Story: https://www.techradar.com/news/lawsuit-claims-google-pays-apple-billions-to-stay-out-of-the-search-engine-business
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