Report: Being the Default Search Engine on Apple Devices Costs Google $ 15 Billion

If you need to remember how important the search industry is to Google, look no further than the amount it pays Apple to be the default search engine on all iOS and macOS devices.

As 9To5Mac Reports, an investment note passed through the office of Philippe Elmer-DeWitt yesterday, which estimated that Google’s payment to Apple for default search engine status on iOS and macOS was $ 10 billion in fiscal year (FY) 2020. And that tempting sum of money doesn’t apparently should only increase.

The memo goes on to predict that the payment will reach nearly $ 15 billion in fiscal 2021 before increasing to between $ 18 billion and $ 20 billion in fiscal 2022. As to why Google is willing to pay so much money to its rival, the note also suggests that the search giant “will likely pay to make sure Microsoft doesn’t outbid it.”

The dilemma for Google is whether paying billions of dollars is really worth it. If Bing replaced it as the default search option, wouldn’t users just switch to Google anyway? Most of them probably would, but some wouldn’t, which is an instant loss of users that Google is clearly not prepared to suffer. It’s also worth pointing out that in 2020, Google generated $ 104 billion in search revenue. according to CNBC.