US v. Google: Google's search head testifies that the company spent $26.3B in 2021 to be the default search engine in multiple browsers, phones, and platforms

Even if it's easy to switch browsers or platforms or search engines, the one that appears when you turn it on matters a lot.

The Verge 2023-10-28 David Pierce

Context & Ripple Effects

The testimony puts a concrete figure on a distribution strategy the DOJ had already characterized as involving enormous default-search payments. It also extends a long-running pattern: Google’s payments to browser and device partners had already risen sharply by 2017.

The significance is not simply the size of the outlay, but what it says about route-to-market power: the search provider that appears first can buy access to user queries through the platforms that control the starting point.

First-order effects

The $26.3 billion figure makes default placement a central, measurable issue in the DOJ’s case, rather than an abstract claim about Google’s search distribution.
Browser makers, phone manufacturers, and platform operators receiving these payments are shown to have a direct financial stake in preserving Google as the preselected option.

Second-order effects

The testimony raises the legal and commercial pressure on Google’s default agreements, while strengthening rivals’ argument that distribution—not just product quality—limits their ability to reach users.
It clarifies the bargaining value of major access points such as Safari: later evidence put Google’s 2022 payment to Apple at $20 billion for Safari default status.

Third-order effects

If default deals are constrained, search competition would shift toward gaining user choice at setup and through browser, device, and platform design rather than paying for preinstallation.
The case is part of a broader test of platform gatekeeper leverage: a later ruling found Google’s default deals contributed to an illegal search monopoly, suggesting these arrangements can become a durable antitrust fault line.

The trend: Search distribution is becoming a regulatory battleground as default placement converts platform control over user entry points into durable market share.

Discussion

@alexheath Alex Heath on threads
question I would be asking if I was a Google shareholder: how much would 26b in R&D for one year get you towards truly having the best modern search experience that people love?
@carnage4life Dare Obasanjo on threads
When Google says their brilliant employees are why their products are so dominant. They really mean their brilliant employees AND over $26 billion in annual payments to Apple, Mozilla and others to ensure that Google search is the default search almost everywhere you look.
@djlink@mastodon.gamedev.place David Amador on mastodon
Google is spending ~$26 Billion a year to be the default search engine on browsers, mobile devices etc. it's almost impossible for any other company to compete in this space. https://www.theverge.com/... [image]
@florian4gamers Florian Mueller on x
There are only two possibilities here: 1. Defaults matter, in which case the DOJ should win its case against Google. 2. Defaults don't matter, in which case shareholders should hold Google's management responsible for insanely wasteful spending on something that has no value.
@jeremys Jeremy Stoppelman on x
In 2011 I testified to Senate antitrust & asked “why has [Google] invested so heavily to be the default choice on web browsers and mobile phones? Clearly they are not taking any chances.” today we learn they've been paying $26B to prevent competition 🤯https://www.theverge.com/ ..…
@stevesi Steven Sinofsky on x
Imagine the surprise that companies pay to get amazing products used by different (captive) audiences knowing that they will get a return greater than what they pay and will reduce share of a competitor. And the shock that companies take the money! In other bombshell news: [image…
@ddayen David Dayen on x
Wow, much more than anticipated. According to Google that was a colossal waste of money, because they were solely chosen as a default because they're the best
@stevesi Steven Sinofsky on x
2/ If you advocate companies should not be allowed to pay for distribution then keep in mind you're also advocating companies need not open up distribution to others. Or you are advocating distribution should just be determined by regulators unilaterally managing distribution.
@timsweeneyepic Tim Sweeney on x
Google: Search engine defaults aren't important. Google: (secretly pays $26,300,000,000 to be the default search engine everywhere) https://www.theverge.com/...
@jason_kint Jason Kint on x
Important new data point from this. Google's total TAC (Traffic Acquisition Cost) in 2021 was $45.5 bil (SEC-10k). The only other major cost is revenue sharing for ads across the web so yes Google ensures its search monopoly/surveillance for $26B and shares $19B with rest of web.…
@sandeepvaheesan Sandeep Vaheesan on x
Google's exclusive deals with browser developers and mobile device makers are expensive. Such exclusivity has been a basis for successful monopolization suits since the early years of the Sherman Act.
@timsweeneyepic Tim Sweeney on x
The number of secret deals Google signs with competitors to pay them not to compete is horrifying. When two companies sign a deal they're proud of, they put out a press release announcing it. What kind of public company signs a $20B deal and doesn't announce it? The shady kind.
@jason_kint Jason Kint on x
extraordinary. simple math would put this at approximately $32 BILLION in 2023 YES $32 BILLION TO MAINTAIN MONOPOLY AND SURVEILLANCE POWERS based on Google's two-year growth in search advertising all other variables (% access point and rev share %s) likely consistent.
@superwuster Tim Wu on x
This is a bombshell. If Google's search engine is so great, why pay Apple $26 billion a year to make it the default?
@rakeshlobster Rakesh Agrawal on x
One of things left out of the Google story is very shrewd BD & M/A. Kind of the opposite of the Yahoo story, which never met a company it couldn't destroy.
@mer__edith Meredith Whittaker on x
Holy shit. (Speaking of the near-unfathomable profitability of the surveillance business model, take a min to contemplate what the ability to pay tens of billions to cement their dominant position means vis-a-vis the revenue that dominant position redounds to Google.)
@adamkovac Adam Kovacevich on x
One problem: the browser deals aren't exclusive. Bing, Yahoo, DuckDuckGo all also pay Apple and Mozilla to be a secondary option in Safari and Firefox.
@pg @pg on x
Google paid $26.3 billion in 2021 to be the default search for Apple, Firefox, and more :: Google is giving up about 16% of its search revenue and about 29% of its profit to those distribution deals. Most of that money goes to Apple - The Verge https://www.theverge.com/...
@ananyyye @ananyyye on x
Google: Cries daily on social media cuz people use and love Apple's services genuinely Also Google: Google paid a whopping $26.3 billion in 2021 to be the default search engine everywhere https://www.theverge.com/...
@lutherlowe Luther Lowe on x
Whoops - its more than just Apple. this is the payments overall — so apple plus samsung, at&t etc etc. Apple is the biggest single chunk in this number (and we still don't know that figure, estimated at 20b. Stat about defaults $ > personal computer $ still holds though
@leah_nylen @leah_nylen on x
@matthewstoller I believe this is the global number because Mehta was then comparing it to the 10-K (he did that when deciding whether it would prejudice Google as they suggested to reveal it and then said it wouldn't since it was close to what is already public)
@alexeheath Alex Heath on x
definitely something you need to do when you're just the best and competition is just a click away: Google paid over $26 billion to be the default search engine everywhere in 2021 https://www.theverge.com/...
@leah_nylen @leah_nylen on x
My second favorite set of statistics from today courtesy Google's Project Cinnamom: 54% of US iPhone users surveyed by Google didn't realize that the default search engine in Safari is Google. In Japan, that number was 81%.

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