Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella took the witness stand at Google’s antitrust trial on Monday, revealing that his company was willing to go to great lengths to become Apple’s default search engine and challenge Google’s dominance. Nadella testified that Microsoft was prepared to hide the Bing brand on Apple devices, offering “strategic flexibility” on branding and encouraging Apple to consider their technology independently.
The trial, led by the Department of Justice, aims to prove that Google has used its search monopoly to stifle competition and harm consumers. Google pays billions of dollars each year to be the default search option on Apple devices, a crucial point in the case against them. Microsoft has attempted to secure a more attractive deal with Apple but has been unsuccessful thus far.
During his testimony, Nadella highlighted the significant impact of becoming Apple’s default search engine, stating that it would be “game changing” and that Apple has the power to influence the market. Microsoft did manage to strike a deal with Apple between 2013 and 2017, powering Siri and the Spotlight feature with its search engine instead of Google. However, Apple continued to use Google as the default search engine in its Safari web browser, reverting back after four years.
Discussions about dropping the Bing brand took place during negotiations in 2018. The proposed arrangement would have seen Bing power Safari search results but under a different name. Nadella revealed that he has been trying to replace Google as Apple’s default search engine every year since he became CEO in 2014, suggesting that Apple used Microsoft as leverage to negotiate higher payments from Google.
Eddy Cue, Apple’s services chief, has previously stated that the company works with Google because they provide superior search results. The revenue-sharing agreement between Apple and Google reportedly generates around $8 billion annually for Apple.
Interestingly, Bloomberg News reported last week that Microsoft even offered to sell Bing to Apple in 2020, but the overture was turned down by Cue.
