Google cut the amount of money it paid to Verizon Communications Inc. to be the default search engine on its Android phones sold in the US in 2020, according to testimony as part of the Justice Department’s antitrust case against the search giant.
Alphabet Inc.’s Google renegotiated its agreement with Verizon in 2020, reducing the share of revenue earned through searches on Android phones to 10% from 20%, Justice Department attorney Jeremy Goldstein said in questioning Google executive Adrienne McCallister, who negotiated the deal with the largest US mobile carrier.
McCallister confirmed the percentage, though how much money that amounts to annually wasn’t revealed.
The company pays a portion of the revenue it earns from advertising on searches made via mobile phones to wireless carriers, web browsers and mobile device makers. In 2021, Google paid $26 billion in exchange for being the default search engine, though the exact amounts paid to specific companies haven’t been revealed at the trial.
Earlier: Google Paid $26 Billion to Be Default Search Engine in 2021
The Justice Department alleges those payments have allowed Google to illegally maintain its monopoly over online search and the accompanying advertising.
A Verizon executive earlier testified that the company didn’t bother to seek out bids for other search engines like Microsoft Corp.’s Bing or DuckDuckGo Inc. when it renegotiated the deal.
