Report: Google paid Apple $1 billion for iPhone placement
Google reportedly shelled out big bucks to Apple to make sure its search bar is on the iPhone. Bloomberg reports that the search giant paid Apple $1 billion in 2014, according to a transcript of court proceedings from software company Oracle Corp.'s long-running copyright lawsuit against Google.
Google and Apple have an agreement in which Apple receives a percentage of revenue Google produces through the company's devices like the iPhone.
The deal shows just how far Google will go to make sure its search engine is visible to as many people as possible, even if that means opening its pockets to Apple, a major competitor to its own Android mobile phones.
"The specific financial terms of Google's agreement with Apple are highly sensitive to both Google and Apple," Google said in the Jan. 20 filing, according to Bloomberg. "Both Apple and Google have always treated this information as extremely confidential."
The transcript vanished without a trace from electronic court records at about 3 p.m. PST Thursday, with no sign that the court ruled on the request from Google to seal it, Bloomberg reports.
The Oracle case has been percolating since 2010, when the software developer accused Google of using its Java software, without paying for it, to develop Android.