Google paid $26 billion to be default search engine in 2021

Google paid $26.3 billion to other companies to ensure its search engine was the default on web browsers and mobile phones, a top company executive testified during the Justice Department’s antitrust trial Friday.

A woman holds her smart phone which displays the Google home page, in this picture illustration taken February 24, 2016. (REUTERS)

Google paid $26.3 billion to other companies to ensure its search engine was the default on web browsers and mobile phones, a top company executive testified during the Justice Department's antitrust trial Friday.

The amount of payments Alphabet Inc.'s Google made to other companies for the default status — such as Apple Inc. for placement on the iPhone and other devices — has more than tripled since 2014, according to Prabhakar Raghavan, a senior executive responsible for both search and advertising.

Google's search advertising brought in $146.4 billion in revenue in 2021, a number that has also climbed over the same years, Raghavan said. The payments for the default were the company's biggest cost, he added.

Google had objected to revealing the numbers, saying they would harm the company's ability to negotiate contracts in the future. But Judge Amit Mehta, who is overseeing the case, ruled that the numbers should be disclosed.