Apple, Google worked as ‘one company’ on search deal, US says

Google pays Apple billions of dollars a year to make its search product the default option, according to analyst estimates. That means when a user buys a new iPhone or other Apple device, the built-in search engine in the Safari browser is Google. — Reuters

The US government’s antitrust assault against Google reveals new details about a secretive, multibillion-dollar deal between the Internet giant and Apple Inc, the world’s largest technology company.

The Justice Department’s lawsuit, filed Oct 20, targets paid deals Google negotiates to get its search engine to be the default on browsers, phones and other devices. The biggest of these is an agreement that makes Google search the default on iPhones and other Apple devices.