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The Story: In 2021, Google paid over $26 billion to be the default search engine on most smartphones and internet browsers.

On Friday, a judge in Google’s antitrust lawsuit forced a Google executive to disclose how much the company paid to be the default search engine on devices. That includes Apple, LG, Motorola, and Samsung smartphones, as well as carriers like AT&T, T-Mobile, and Verizon, who all held partnerships with Google, and finally browsers such as Mozilla, Opera, and UCWeb.

Google argued that the $26.3 billion amount was highly sensitive information that should not be announced in the antitrust case. The Department of Justice disagreed, maintaining that the number is clear evidence of Google’s anticompetitive tactics by which it unfairly outbids other search engines.

Google doesn’t think this justification holds merit, however, contending that even if the company didn’t pay for search priority, people would still prefer Google’s search engine over any other on the market.

According to Prabhakar Raghavan, head of search and advertising at Google, the company’s cost to retain being the default search engine has tripled since 2014.

Although it pays a hefty price for the default spot, it’s worth it as Google generated $146.4 billion in search advertising revenue last year.

The antitrust case against the tech giant began last month and is not expected to end until sometime in early 2024. Tune into the trial this week as Google’s CEO Sundar Pichai is likely to testify, making his first appearance so far in the biggest antitrust case in tech since the 1990s.

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