Google spends over $3B a year to be the default search engine on iOS

It’s strange how competing tech companies can make tons of money from their competitor’s products. Microsoft is no stranger to collecting patent royalties for each Android phone and it seems as though Google keeps Apple’s pockets nice and deep in order to stay the default search engine on iOS devices.

When Google first inked a deal with Apple to remain the default search engine on iOS, it was only worth $1 billion three years ago. In fact, Google’s hefty licensing fee is expected to account for around 5% of Apple’s total operating profits for 2017.

Apple devices account for more than half of Google’s mobile search revenue, so it’s unlikely that Google will back away from the deal anytime soon. Even if it did, what alternatives are left? Yahoo has been sold to Verizon and doesn’t feature a robust search option, while Microsoft’s Bing only excels in the less than safe for work pursuits.