Google Appeals Antitrust Ruling, Says Apple Chose Its Search Engine 'Fair and Square'

Key Points:

• Google has appealed a 2024 ruling that found it violated antitrust law by paying to be the default search engine on iPhones, arguing its success is due to competition on merit, innovation, and investment rather than anti-competitive practices.
• Google contends it did not harm the competitive process or impede rivals, emphasizing that Apple freely offers alternative search engines and that any exclusivity was Apple's business decision.
• The company is seeking to overturn remedies requiring it to share search data and syndicate results to competitors, and wants generative AI companies like OpenAI excluded from receiving such data, citing their success without relying on Google's information.
• The antitrust case included Google's multi-billion-dollar deal with Apple to be the default Safari search engine, but while Google is barred from exclusive contracts, it can still pay to be an option on iPhones.
• Remedies from the case took effect in February 2024, but data-sharing has not started due to unresolved implementation details, and oral arguments for Google's appeal are not expected until late 2026 or early 2027.