Eight new revelations from the Google antitrust case

Apple generated half Google's revenue, but the search giant threatened to yank the deal if Apple, Samsung and others offered consumers a choice...

1. Apple generated about half of Google’s revenue. Forbes notes that the DOJ stated in 2018 that “Apple devices generated about half of Google’s revenue.” The administration has since added that such default contracts account for 50 per cent of everyday Google searches. And we are talking big money. Google handles “about 90%” of search queries supporting $160 billion in advertising revenue.

2. Google does the big switcharoo. The US Department of Justice likens the Google case to its antitrust action against Microsoft 25 years ago which found “anticompetitive agreements by a high-tech monopolist shutting off effective distribution channels for rivals … were exclusionary and unlawful”. This week the DoJ argued: “Back then, Google claimed Microsoft’s practices were anticompetitive, and yet, now, Google deploys the same playbook to sustain its own monopolies.”

3. …overcharging advertisers, poor consumer choice and a degrading product. Slate reports: “The DOJ alleges that Google intentionally crowde…