WASHINGTON - The US government's antitrust assault against Google reveals new details about a secretive, multi-billion-dollar deal between the internet giant and Apple Inc., the world's largest technology company.
The DOJ also cited internal Google documents that call the Apple search deal a"significant revenue channel" for the search giant and one that, if lost, would result in a"Code Red" scenario. That's because nearly half of Google search traffic in 2019 came from Apple products, according to the lawsuit.
The Justice Department focused in particular on the deal between Apple and Google, saying it"substantially forecloses Google's search rivals from an important distribution channel for a significant, multi-year term". More on this topic The DOJ suit cited estimates that Apple gets US$8 billion to US$12 billion annually from Google through the agreement. Apple's income from the search deal is believed to be part of the company's growing Services segment, a key metric Apple has highlighted to investors and analysts in recent years.