The ongoing Google antitrust trial is revealing all sorts of interesting elements of the Apple-Google relationship, which has put the companies’ lucrative deal for Google search to be the default browser on iPhone, iPad, and Mac under legal scrutiny.
Via Bloomberg, the latest development is that Apple considered replacing Google search as the default search engine in Safari, when customers used Private Browsing mode. Google would have remained the default in normal search mode. The talks between Apple and DuckDuckGo took place between 2018 and 2019.
The testimony from DuckDuckGo CEO Gabriel Weinberg and Apple SVP John Giannandrea was conducted behind closed doors, but the judge has now ruled that it will be released to the public as it is considered critical to the case. Codenames and business sensitive information will be redacted in the released documents.
DuckDuckGo said it was surprised that Apple never rolled out the change from Google to DuckDuckGo following months of talks.
However, Apple’s Giannandrea said the company never seriously considered a switch, as otherwise he would have insisted on more due diligence. Giannandrea noted that an assumption of increased privacy for users would have been the motivation, but as DuckDuckGo relies on Bing for much of its search results, it was unclear to him that it would be that much more private than simply using Google. (Update: A spokesperson for DuckDuckGo pointed to the company’s privacy policy, which says they “prevent our hosting and content providers from creating a history of your searches and browsing”.)
Giannandrea has previously touted in court a new feature in iOS 17 that allows users to pick a different search engine separately for normal browsing and Private Browsing modes. But Google is the default for both.
The Justice Department’s case is that the Google and Apple deal, which sees Google pay around $8 billion annually to Apple in an advertising revenue share arrangement, is anticompetitive as it blocks out competition in the search market. It alleges that the barrier to switching from the default search engine is simply too high. It pits talks with DuckDuckGo and Microsoft’s Bing as merely negotiation tactics for Apple to secure better financial terms with Google. Apple says it uses Google because it is the best.
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