Washington DC:
Two of the world’s largest tech behemoths – Apple and Google – are coming together in what is increasingly seeming like an indefensible case. Billions and billions are at stake and Google, the world’s ‘default’ search engine, stares into the abyss.
There is much to lose for both tech giants – for Apple it could lead to losses of tens of billions of dollars per year and an incomprehensible fallout on the accuracy of its results on features like Siri and Spotlight, whose framework is largely dependent on Google search. For Google, besides money and market share, it may result in the massive loss of its entire web browser – Chrome. It also faces another potential gigantic loss – its Android operating system.
And so, finding Google in a major spot of bother, Apple has sought to participate in the anti-trust trial against Google over its internet search engine. Apple on Tuesday said it needs to step in as it cannot rely on Google alone to defend the revenue-sharing agreements that the two firms have.
The epicenter of the case, which has sent tremors across Silicon Valley, lies in an agreement between Google and Apple, wherein the iPhone, iPad, and Macbook maker gets tens of billions of dollars each year for making Google the default search engine on its browser – Safari. In 2022 alone, Apple reportedly received in excess of $20 billion as a result of this very agreement.
The question at the heart of the case is simple – Has Google monopolised online search? According to Google – No, it has not.
A monopoly in simple business terms is a situation where a single company controls the entire market. In such a scenario it becomes difficult or sometimes impossible for the competition to compete due to the lack of a level-playing field.
Focusing on this very point, Apple’s lawyers submitted their papers to the court on Tuesday, in which they conveyed that Apple and Google are not competitors, and neither does Apple want to compete in the search engine space. It also said that that is how it will be whether or not Apple receives the billions of dollars from Google in future.
Apple, in its petition, also said it wants to call witnesses who will testify under oath at the trial scheduled for April 2025. On that day, the prosecutors will aim to highlight that Google absolutely must take multiple measures – two of them being selling its Chrome browser and possibly its Android operating system too. The prosecutors believe that only then will competition be restored in online search. But should this happen, it will be a fatal blow to Google.
While Google’s parent firm Alphabet is figuring a way to battle this grave threat to its existence, Apple, which understand the gravity of the situation has said “Google can no longer adequately represent Apple’s interests. Google must now defend against a broad effort to break up its business units.”
Meanwhile, Google has proposed that instead of breaking Google, the focus of the case should be on exclusive deals – and that is what should be the focus of the case. It has even offered to put an end to its exclusive deals, including with Apple.
Justifying its stand, Google has asserted that the entire premise of the case is based on exclusive deals. Besides ending the deal with Apple, Google has even suggested that it is willing to no longer enter any deals with Android phone manufacturers which require the phone-maker to make Google the default search engine in return for its operating system and supporting apps. Browser companies like Mozilla would also be given more flexibility in setting rival search engines as its default search. This, according to Google’s lawyers, is a fair solution to make the market more competitive.
Between now and the crucial hearing in April, Google is doing all it can to defend itself and limit its losses – and subsequent repercussions, should it lose the groundbreaking case.
The US Department of Justice vs Google is poised to be a defining moment for the global tech industry – a landmark case that may just reshape how the world uses the internet. If someone searches “What will happen finally in the Google vs DOJ case”, perhaps even Google will just say ‘Search me!’
