Google is currently on trial over monopolistic practices. Amazon is also currently facing the Federal Government in court over its own practices. A major aspect of the case was its hold over the search engine marketplace, particularly on iPhones.
An Apple executive testified that Google did not have any competitors, and that using Google as the default search engine on the iPhone was a necessity. The New York Times reports:
Eddy Cue, Apple’s senior vice president of services, testified in Washington that Google’s placement as the default search option on the Safari browser across Apple devices was motivated by quality.
“I didn’t think at the time, or today, that there was anybody out there who is anywhere near as good as Google at searching,” said Mr. Cue, who was called to testify by the Justice Department. “Certainly there wasn’t a valid alternative.”
Microsoft, who once faced its own monopoly trial, is firing back. In testimony, another executive claimed that Apple had reached out to them to see if they could use Bing as the default search engine instead. This was all a ploy to leverage Google for a greater payout. The New York Post continues:
Apple was never serious about replacing Google with Microsoft’s Bing as the default search engine in Macs and iPhones, but kept the possibility open as a “bargaining chip’’ to extract bigger payments from Google, a Microsoft executive testified Wednesday in the biggest US antitrust trial in a quarter century.
“It is no secret that Apple is making more money on Bing existing than Bing does,’’ Mikhail Parakhin, Microsoft’s chief of advertising and web services, said in US District Court in Washington. The comment drew a laugh from the courtroom. Parakhin was describing Microsoft’s years of futility trying to supplant Google on Apple devices.
The trial is turning into a giant spectacle, with multiple Big Tech executives all testifying. While the two executives are most likely telling the truth, it will be worthwhile to see if the trial has any ramifications on future deals between the large companies.
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