Google paying billions to Apple to remain default search engine in Safari

Google paying billions to Apple to remain default search engine in Safari

Gulf Business

Thursday 02 July 2020

UK's competition authority stated that the deal creates a significant barrier to entry and expansion for Google's UK competitors

In a new report from Reuters, UK regulators have begun examining the long-term deal between Apple and Google, with the latter being the default search engine in the mobile Safari browser.

The UK government's Competition and Markets Authority found that Google pays billions to Apple (approximately $1.5bn) every year to Apple to allow it to be the default search engine option in mobile Safari browsers in the UK alone.

The competition authority's report stated that the deal creates a significant barrier to entry and expansion for Google's UK competitors, and has proposed to limit Apple's ability to make such deals or to give users the option to select their own default search engine when setting up their device for the first time.

It should be noted that the Safari browsers have used Google as its default search engine for years, and thus Google becomes the default search engine on all Apple devices, including the iPhone that is used by hundreds of millions around the world.

Experts believe that this gives Google a competitive advantage that its competitors do not get, and in 2014,