Google gives Apple a 36 percent share of all search ad revenue that comes from Safari, according to University of Chicago professor Kevin Murphy. Google had fought to keep the number confidential, but Bloomberg reports that Murphy shared the figure while testifying today in defense of Google in the Google antitrust trial.
Google has long paid to be the default search engine in Safari and other browsers like Firefox, spending $26.3 billion in 2021 alone for that privilege. Of that figure, $18 billion went to Apple, but the details of the origin of the figure remained secret until now. Google has been trying to keep these details under wraps as the test progresses, but snippets have leaked anyway. According Bloomberg, Google lawyer John Schmidtlein “visibly cringed when Murphy said the number.” We’ve reached out to Google and Apple for comment.
Apple’s Eddy Cue defended the deal in September, saying Apple actually wanted a bigger cut of the money Google makes from Safari traffic, but the companies settled for the lower number Murphy revealed today. Although specific figures were discussed that day, they were only discussed in closed sessions, away from the ears of the press.
