Google sent a 'f*ck you' to Samsung over rivals - exec

The South Korean tech giant spent hundreds of millions pioneering a new search product before being shot down by the search giant

Google sought to “squelch” any ability for a competitor to build a better product and then “did a f*ck you to Samsung” according to a senior executive at the phone giant.

Patrick Chang, who worked at Samsung’s Next VC arm, said his efforts to adopt an up-and-coming search rival called Branch on its Android smartphones was blocked.

His boss David Eun said: "Google is clearly buying its way to squelch competitors," according to an email presented by The Department of Justice.

Verizon, AT&T and T-Mobile also opposed the move because they believed it would conflict with their Google contracts, the court heard.

“Carriers had concerns it (Branch) cannibalized their existing search revenues,” said Chang, a former director at Samsung Next Ventures with Eun.

Branch raised $650 million from Samsung and other venture capital investors to build a new type of search engine for mobile apps, but co-founder Alex Austin said Google crushed their hopes.

Branch was being considered for Samsung’s S10 smartpho…