Pichai acknowledged that Google pays Apple more for search-default agreements than any Android handset manufacturer, a discrepancy he attributed to separate deals with Android smartphone makers and telecom carriers. He emphasized that designating Google as the default search engine was a strategic move to drive higher usage of their products and services. The Justice Department compared Google's eagerness to secure its position as the default search engine to its objections to Microsoft's potential dominance in Internet Explorer, but Pichai argued the situations were distinct.
Key takeaways:
- Google CEO Sundar Pichai testified in the US government's major tech antitrust trial, defending Google's search dominance as based on user preference and not illegal monopolistic practices.
- Pichai revealed that users who switched from Microsoft's Internet Explorer or Mozilla's Firefox to Chrome performed significantly more searches on Google.
- Google has been paying Apple an estimated $10 billion annually to maintain its position as the default search engine on Apple devices and software, a move Pichai justified as a strategic decision to drive higher usage of their products and services.
- Pichai criticized Microsoft's approach for not providing users with clear options to choose their preferred search provider and instead automatically defaulting to Bing if no choice was made.