So that's why Google wants you to use Chrome on your iPhone so badly

• Google pays Apple 36% of the search revenue it gets when people use the Safari browser.
• That's included in about $18 billion a year it pays Apple just to be Apple's default search engine.

The federal antitrust case against Google brought some astonishing information to light on Monday: Google pays Apple 36% of the search revenue it gets when people use the Safari browser.

That figure was apparently not supposed to be disclosed in open court, but a witness mentioned it, leading Google's lawyer to "visibly cringe." (Alphabet CEO Sundar Pichai confirmed the number on Tuesday in testimony for a different antitrust lawsuit.)

Coughing up 36% of search revenue is eye-popping. It's… a lot. A whole lot. Ooodles of clams. A gazoongle of beans.

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Consider that Epic Games is suing Google in an antitrust case — and that centers on the smaller 30% cut Google takes from in-app purchases through the Google Play Store. Apple also takes 30% of in-app purchases through its App Store.

Google is essentially willing to take a worse deal from Apple than it gives to Candy Crush.

Overall, Google reportedly paid Apple $18 billion in 2021 just to be the default search engine on Apple devices.

You can certainly imagine why Google would love iPhone users to download the Chrome app and set it as their default search engines.

Chrome is far more popular than the Apple-owned Safari, especially on desktop computers. But data from Similarweb indicates Safari still makes up about 27% of browsers when considering all devices, including mobile phones.

For context, Google's total search revenue was $279.8 billion in 2022.

The $18 billion Google's paying just for Chrome to be the default browser on Apple devices is not an significant chunk of Apple's yearly revenue. (Its annual revenue was nearly $400 billion last year.)

You'd think for all that Apple would finally allow Android users to shed the green-bubble shame and get iMessage.

Correction: November 15, 2023 — An earlier version of this story misstated the scope of Google's payments to Apple. The 36% of search revenue Google pays Apple when people use the Safari browser would be included in the $18 billion that Google paid Apple in 2021. It would not be a separate additional payment.