Google's lawsuit briefs contain bizarre proposals regarding the iPhone and iPad.

Google's legal documents state that it is claimed that iPhone and iPad can have different default search engines. This is because the company is trying to keep an agreement with Apple worth $2 billion annually.

'$2 billion per year payment from Google to Apple'

When you enter a query into the integrated Safari browser and perform web search, it will be conducted through Google (unless manually changed). This is because Google receives rental fees from Apple in the billions annually.

This is a great achievement for Google. Because this large amount of search traffic comes from Apple users, they can then display ads in front of those users. Additionally, Apple's customers have higher average incomes, making them very valuable demographics for advertisers.

This is also great for Apple and presents a good opportunity to earn free money. Setting the default requires it, and Google being the most famous search engine makes this probably the best thing that could happen.

The exact amount has not been made public yet, but Alibaba is hiding some of its revenue as service income from this. However, due to antitrust litigation against Google, the amount for 2022 was revealed unexpectedly and it was $2 billion.

The Ministry of Justice claims that this payment is illegal because it provides unfair preferential treatment to a small search engine for Google. And, in early summer, the court also agreed with this. The DOJ is seeking a ban on this payment for 10 years.

'Google presents counter-proposals regarding default search engines'

Google has the right to submit counter-proposals through legal procedures to the DOJ, and it has already done so.

Google accepts that its contract with Apple should be banned but says it should only last for three years instead of ten. The technology industry is rapidly evolving due to the rise of generative AI, and what a company dominates today does not necessarily mean it will continue in such a situation in the future.

It is possible that iPhone and iPad have different search engines.

The company argues that having a more flexible system would support other search services competing with Alibaba's business. Especially in an unusual proposal, they suggest that iPhone and iPad should have different default search engines, which implies that Google could gain one engine while competitors could gain others.

Our proposal makes it possible for the browser to provide Google Search to users and earn revenue from their partnership. However, this also gives them additional flexibility: they can set multiple default contracts in different platforms (such as different default search engines for iPhone or iPad) and viewing modes. Furthermore, a feature allowing changing the default search provider up to once a year is provided.

Google currently dominates the search industry, but it holds the position that its dominance may not be permanent. There are already people using AI services like ChatGPT as replacements for standard search engines, making it difficult to predict future developments.

For example, before the release of the iPhone, Nokia almost monopolized the smartphone industry. It is unimaginable for a company to exit business, but seven years later, that company has left the smartphone market. And while Google seems safe today, its future dominance is not certain.

Theoretically, by more finely dividing default search bidding, it may become more realistic for competing search engines to competitively acquire parts of the pie. However, Apple focuses on providing a consistent experience across devices, and the idea of contracting different search engines with iPhone and iPad is frankly foolish.

There is a possibility that Google will give in to the court's judgment and reduce the proposed 10-year ban significantly, but it is certain that Apple will suffer annual losses of $2 billion for at least several years.

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