Antitrust investigation is underway against Google
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Google and Apple may disagree on fundamental issues like user privacy, but Senior Vice President Eddie Cue sees Google Search as the only viable option.
More information is emerging about Apple and Google's agreement to make Google search the default search on iPhone. Google is the subject of an antitrust investigation, including a public trial with Apple Senior Vice President Eddie Cue as a witness.
According to The Verge's report on the public portion of the trial, Eddie Cue supported Apple's decision to set Google as its default search engine, citing several reasons why. First of all, Google was and remains the only option for Apple.
“I've always felt it was in Google's best interest and in our best interest to get the deal done,” Cue said when asked if it was possible the search engine deal would fail. “Of course, there was no real alternative to Google at the time.”
Apple has no interest in creating its own search engine to compete with Google, and Q apparently had a hard time even remembering the alternatives available on iOS. It was also revealed that Apple and Google's agreement prohibits the display of alternative search engines during any installation process, although Cue wouldn't have it any other way.
“We're trying to get people up and running as quickly as possible,” Cue said of the setup issue. “We made Google our default search engine because we always thought it was the best. We choose the best one and make it easy for users to change it.”
Cue argues that Apple's approach to privacy allows users to search with some protection. Apple's deal with Google will prevent Google from requiring users to sign in, plus there are some tracking protections in Safari.
“We always thought we had better privacy than Google,” Cue shared.
The court closed its doors to the public shortly after this testimony due to the volume of secret documents being brought into play. The Justice Department wants to test whether Google is truly the best search engine or whether its influence and financial incentives are driving it.
