Google vulnerable as Apple emerges as search's ultimate kingmaker

Google stands to lose half its revenue as antitrust lawyers sharpen their claws, changing the landscape of Big Tech forever

Oct 02, 2023

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Google’s antitrust trial has laid bare just how much the search giant relies on its competitors - and how vulnerable that makes it.

Half of Google’s traffic and revenue comes from Apple. That’s why it pays Cupertino billions to be the default search engine on iPhone and Macs.

Without this agreement, Google could lose $80 billion in annual ad revenue. To try to ensure that doesn’t happen, Google pays Apple $8-10 billion-a-year.

That deal - $10 billion for $80 billion has left antitrust experts scratching their heads.

Why wouldn’t Apple build its own search engine? It’s not in Apple’s nature to leave $70 billion on the table.

Those backroom murmurs are now going mainstream. Bloomberg’s subscriber-only newsletter Power On piled on this morning. Author Mark Gurman wrote:

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