Matthew Widdop
Matty is a Junior SEO Executive at Intelligency, helping our clients to improve their digital performance. Matty is currently studying for his Level 3 Multi-Channel Marketer apprenticeship and has completed a Sport Journalism Degree at the University of Huddersfield.
Google recently lost their antitrust lawsuit against the Department of Justice in the US for holding a monopoly over the search market due to its deal with Apple to be the main default search engine on Safari.
Google & Apple
Google paid Apple a whopping $20 Billion in 2023 to remain the default search engine on Safari. This gives them 70% of the search traffic they currently gain from iPhones and also means they have a stranglehold of around 90% on the totality of the search industry.
Google’s deal with Apple came after the growth of mobile in the search market over the last decade. Apple’s iPhone is currently the most popular mobile in the world with approximately 1.46 billion active users. Mobile’s are now responsible for 64% of searches globally, therefore Google felt it was crucial to make their deal with Apple to keep control of the search market
AntiTrust Lawsuit
The Department of Justice felt that the deal Google has made with Apple represents an attempt at monopolising the search market and is uncompetitive in spirit and therefore filed an antitrust lawsuit against Google in 2020.
Google has been found guilty by Judge Amit Mehta, under section 2 of the Sherman Act, which prohibits monopolies. The decision means that the process will now enter a separate phase to determine what the implications of Google’s attempted monopoly will be.
Impact on Google & Marketing
The outcome for Google could be significant as losing the Apple deal will lead to them potentially losing a large portion of their search market share. This will mean marketers will need to adjust their advertising and SEO efforts in the future as other search engines may grow and take up some of Google’s currently overwhelming market share.
Google will also be eagerly awaiting the outcome of a second trial against the DOJ which will be taking place on September 9th accusing Google of having a monopoly over the digital advertising market.
If Google loses both trials then we could see huge shifts in the tech industry and the digital marketing industry may be changed beyond recognition.
