Apple in Google Antitrust Lawsuit: "Chose the Best Search Engine"

Eddy Q Vice President "No Suitable Alternative" Testimony
Google Requests Protection from Judge Over Confidential Leak Concerns

As the U.S. government filed an antitrust lawsuit against Google, which dominates over 90% of the domestic search engine market share, Apple, the key partner and iPhone manufacturer, defended Google by stating that Google was the best service to choose as the default search engine and that there were no suitable alternatives.

[Image source=Reuters Yonhap News]

According to the New York Times (NYT) and others on the 26th (local time), Apple's Senior Vice President of Services, Eddy Cue, appeared as a witness at the antitrust lawsuit hearing between Google and the U.S. Department of Justice held at the Washington D.C. federal court. He was the person who designed the agreement between Apple and Google in 2016 regarding setting Google as the default search engine on the Safari browser.

The Department of Justice alleges that Google paid Apple between $4 billion (approximately 5.32 trillion KRW) and $7 billion from 2002, when Google first became the default option on Safari, until 2020 for pre-installing Google as the default search engine. The DOJ claims that by paying for pre-installation as a condition, Google overwhelmingly maintained its market share and blocked competitors from entering the market, constituting antitrust behavior.

Apple, however, has consistently maintained the position that it chose Google based on the quality of its service. Vice President Cue stated, "When choosing the default search engine, we select the best one and make it easy for customers to change it," adding, "At that time and now, we believe there is no better search engine than Google. Clearly, there was no suitable alternative."

When the DOJ questioned whether the default search engine must be pre-installed and whether consumers cannot set it themselves when powering on the device, Cue responded, "More choices or options frustrate customers," explaining that customers want to quickly try out their new devices. He further explained that choosing the appearance of the iPhone is different from selecting a search engine.

Cue evaluated that while there are better search engine options than Google in certain countries like China or Russia, in most other countries, Google provides the best experience to users.

During the trial, Cue was questioned about the 2016 renegotiation process of the pre-installation contract between Apple and Google. The inquiry aimed to examine whether the contract was conducted while maintaining the value of fair competition.

Eddy Cue, Senior Vice President of Apple Services
Photo by Getty Images Yonhap News

Cue revealed that one of the goals of the renegotiation was to increase the revenue share Google pays to Apple. He stated that since Apple develops related technology and generates revenue, it is right and fair to receive compensation for it, and he judged that Apple deserved to share more revenue from Google.

Regarding this, the DOJ presented an email Cue sent to Apple CEO Tim Cook in 2016. The email included content that Google CEO Sundar Pichai did not agree with the revenue distribution proposed by Apple during the negotiation.

When the DOJ asked Cue whether Apple could have abandoned negotiations with Google based on this, Cue replied, "I did not seriously consider it," and thought that successfully closing the deal would benefit both companies.

Cue testified in court that the contract between the two companies included a clause stating that if government regulatory issues arise, both companies would "support and defend the deal." He explained that the 2016 renegotiation was conducted to include this clause at Google's request. He added that he understood this was related to the European Union's antitrust investigation at the time.

The trial, which officially began on the 12th, disputes whether Google, which was established in 1998 and rapidly grew with the spread of smartphones to achieve a 90% market share in the search market, illegally leveraged its dominance by pre-installing its search engine as the default on devices like the iPhone. Earlier, on the 21st, Gabriel Weinberg, CEO of the U.S. search engine company DuckDuckGo, testified that it was difficult to expand the market due to Google's monopoly contracts. The trial is expected to continue until November.

Meanwhile, Google requested the judge to protect information, stating that various confidential information is leaking during the trial process, saying, "If commercially sensitive information is disclosed in open court, the damage to our competitive position would be enormous." Since the trial began on the 12th, Google has submitted 35 responses, two-thirds of which have been sealed.

The NYT reported that this trial will be "one of the most secretive antitrust trials in decades," adding that not only Google but also related company officials from Apple and Microsoft (MS) have requested to keep their information from being disclosed to the public. Apple also tried to avoid having its executives summoned as witnesses, citing that they are struggling with excessive pressure," the atmosphere was conveyed.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.