header banner
Default

To be the default search engine everywhere, Google paid a whooping $263 billion in 2021 - Slashdot


Table of Contents

    The US v. Google antitrust trial is about many things, but more than anything, it's about the power of defaults. 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. Google obviously agrees and has paid a staggering amount to make sure it is the default: testimony in the trial revealed that Google spent a total of $26.3 billion in 2021 to be the default search engine in multiple browsers, phones, and platforms. From a report: That number, the sum total of all of Google's search distribution deals, came out during the Justice Department's cross-examination of Google's search head, Prabhakar Raghavan. It was made public after a debate earlier in the week between the two sides and Judge Amit Mehta over whether the figure should be redacted. Mehta has begun to push for more openness in the trial in general, and this was one of the most significant new pieces of information to be shared openly.

    Just to put that $26.3 billion in context: Alphabet, Google's parent company, announced in its recent earnings report that Google Search ad business brought in about $44 billion over the last three months and about $165 billion in the last year. Its entire ad business -- which also includes YouTube ads -- made a bit under $90 billion in profit. This is all back-of-the-napkin math, but essentially, Google is giving up about 16 percent of its search revenue and about 29 percent of its profit to those distribution deals.


    Sources


    Article information

    Author: Isabella Jackson

    Last Updated: 1699364882

    Views: 1051

    Rating: 4.9 / 5 (42 voted)

    Reviews: 81% of readers found this page helpful

    Author information

    Name: Isabella Jackson

    Birthday: 2006-04-16

    Address: 51934 Kennedy Lock, Port Catherinebury, SC 41602

    Phone: +3689029548875818

    Job: Article Writer

    Hobby: Bird Watching, Motorcycling, Playing Piano, Skiing, Animation, Chocolate Making, Coin Collecting

    Introduction: My name is Isabella Jackson, I am a rare, candid, accessible, welcoming, spirited, artistic, brilliant person who loves writing and wants to share my knowledge and understanding with you.