A top Apple executive defended the tech giant’s decision to make Google the default search engine on Apple iPhones and Macs, saying there was no “valid alternative
Testifying in the biggest antitrust trial in a quarter century, Eddy Cue, Apple’s senior vice president of services, said Tuesday that there wasn’t “anybody as good’’ as Google at helping phone and computer users search the internet.
The U.S. Department of Justice has accused Google – its very name is synonymous with scouring the web -- of smothering competition by paying Apple, Verizon and other tech companies to make its search engine the first that users see when they open their devices.Google counters that it dominates the market because its search engine is better than the competition – a position that Apple’s Cue supported in his testimony Tuesday.
The antitrust case, the biggest since the Justice Department went after Microsoft and its dominance of internet browsers 25 years ago, was filed in 2020 during the Trump administration. The trial began Sept. 12 in U.S. District Court in Washington D.C. Earlier in the proceedings, the govenrment called a behavioral economist who testified that Google’s default status discourages users from switching search engines, partly becuase they are reluctant to change ingrained habits. And last week, the founder of search engine DuckDuckGo, which has about 2.5% of the search market, testified that his company struggled to compete because of Google’s revenue-sharing agreements with Apple and other companies.
U.S. District Judge Amit Mehta likely won’t issue a ruling until early next year. If he decides Google broke the law, another trial will determine how to rein in Google’s market power. The Mountain View, California-based company could be stopped from paying Apple and other companies to make Google the default search engine.
South Africa Latest News, South Africa Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
Apple exec defends tech giant’s decision to make Google default search engine on Apple iPhones, MacsA top Apple executive defended the tech giant’s decision to make Google the default search engine on Apple iPhones and Macs, saying there was no “valid alternative.’’
Read more »
Apple’s Eddy Cue says there’s really no “valid alternative to Google.”We finally got into open court in US v. Google! For the last 45 minutes or so we’ve been listening to Cue talk about the deal he and Sundar Pichai negotiated in 2016 to keep Google as the default search engine on Apple devices. So far, Cue’s stance is simple: Google is the best search engine, so Apple picked it. He says Apple never seriously thought about ditching Google for another provider, or building its own search engine. The DOJ appears to be walking Cue toward to a privacy question: if you’re so worried about user privacy, shouldn’t you tell people how much Google tracks them and let them opt out? But before we could get there, we took a break. Back at it in a few.
Read more »
Apple exec Eddy Cue set to testify in Google trial about $19 billion search dealCue is expected to testify that Apple picked the Google search engine as an iPhone default because it was the best product.
Read more »
Google Trial Spills Details on Search Engine’s Deals With Apple, SamsungThe company says it was offering the better product, while the Justice Department argues the agreements were illegal.
Read more »
Collision course: New episode of ‘Lights Out’ podcast explores how legendary matchup came to beThe third episode is now available on Apple iTunes, Spotify and Google Podcasts
Read more »
Apple’s Eddy Cue will take the stand Tuesday in the Google antitrust caseWeek three of US v. Google begins.
Read more »