Further embarrassing news for Google today following our earlier story revealing just how much Android makes. Today Bloomberg reports that Google paid $1 billion in 2014 to ensure that they were the default search provider on the iPhone and iPad.
It seems that the deal was done on a percentage agreement, with Google handing over as much as 34% of their revenue to Apple.
The revelation comes as lawyers for Oracle and Android fight over code used in Android handsets. As with the earlier transcript, the details have been quickly redacted, but it seems that Google is having to hand over a huge amount of cash to Apple AND to Microsoft – two major mobile competitors. With Android, Google is having to pay Microsoft for licensing patents and then, to maintain their search and brand awareness, they’re having to pay Apple too. All this while the Android OS earns hardly anything compared to the Apple products.