Google would pay Apple $15 billion (approximately Rs. 1,10,718 crores) to remain the default search engine on iPhone, iPad, and Mac in 2021. The cost of keeping Google as the default search engine for the Safari browser is believed to have risen once again, and it is expected to rise much further in 2022. It is commonly assumed that Google pays Apple a large sum of money each year to maintain the supremacy of its search engine, which includes outbidding Microsoft.
According to an investor note obtained by Ped30, Bernstein analysts believe that Google’s payout to Apple to remain as Safari’s default search engine in 2020 would be about $10 billion (roughly Rs. 73,873 crores), which is more than the prior estimate of $8 billion (roughly Rs. 59,098 crores). According to the analysts, “Apple’s public filings as well as a bottom-up study of Google’s TAC (traffic acquisition costs) payments” indicate that for fiscal year (FY) 2021, Google may pay Apple almost $15 billion, accounting for 9% of the company’s total profit.
Analysts also said that because Google may have to pay Apple between $18 billion (approximately Rs. 1,32,876 crores) and $20 billion (about Rs. 1,47,641 crores) in FY22, the search giant may reconsider its plan. They claim that there are two possible risks in this type of agreement, one of which is a regulatory risk that will likely be years away but may impact Apple’s gross profit by 4 to 5 percent if a decision is issued against it.
