It has been revealed that Google is paying Apple a huge amount to be the search engine on the iPhone. The revelation came to light in an unrelated case in court – a transcript of court proceedings from Oracle Corp.’s copyright lawsuit against Google.
An attorney for Oracle said at a Jan. 14 hearing in federal court that, Apple received $1billion from Google in 2014 and the search engine giant has an agreement with Apple that gives the iPhone maker a percentage of the revenue Google generates through the Apple device
Though rumours of this deal has been circulating but it has never been proven.
According to Bloomberg, “The revenue-sharing agreement reveals the lengths Google must go to keep people using its search tool on mobile devices. It also shows how Apple benefits financially from Google’s advertising-based business model that Chief Executive Officer Tim Cook has criticized as an intrusion of privacy.”
Google and Apple tried to stop the court from disclosing this information, with Google saying it was “highly sensitive”
The magistrate judge presiding over the hearing later refused Google’s request to block the sensitive information in the transcript from public review. Google then asked Alsup to seal and redact the transcript, saying the disclosure could severely affect its ability to negotiate similar agreements with other companies. Apple joined Google’s request in a separate filing.
