In 2021, Google spent $26 billion to be the preselected search engine on browsers and devices.

• In 2021, Google was paid $26.3 billion to be the default search engine on mobile phones and web browsers, as revealed in a slide presented in a federal antitrust trial against the company.
• A more detailed examination of how much Google compensates its partners, including Apple, for making Google the default search engine on their products.
• Apple is likely the largest recipient of the payments shown in the figure.

In 2021, Google paid $26.3 billion to be the default search engine on mobile phones and web browsers, as revealed in a slide presented in a federal antitrust trial against the company.

The number provides a detailed view of how much Google compensates its partners to be the default search engine on their products. The U.S. Department of Justice and a group of state attorneys general have contended in the lawsuit that Google has unlawfully maintained its monopoly power in general search by exploiting its dominance to exclude competitors from crucial distribution channels, such as Apple's Safari web browser.

The $26.3 billion figure does not pertain to payments to a single company, but it is likely that Apple received the most. Previously, Bernstein predicted that Google could pay Apple up to $19 billion this year for the default placement on Apple devices.

According to the DOJ complaint, Google pays billions of dollars annually to various distributors, including popular device manufacturers, major U.S. wireless carriers, and browser developers, to secure default status for its general search engine and, in many cases, to specifically prohibit its counterparties from dealing with Google's competitors.

Users can easily switch their default search engine on Google with a few clicks.

The revenue generated by Google's search business in 2021 was over $146 billion, with the cost of acquiring traffic being more than $26 billion, as stated in the slide titled "Google Search+ Margins" presented in court on Friday.

The revenue for Google's Search+ division increased by about three times between 2014 and 2021, while the corresponding TAC costs nearly quadrupled.

According to Google's 10-K filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, the overall TAC reported by Google includes the amount paid to network partners for ads shown on their properties.

Google reports in earnings that the other portion of its TAC figure, apart from the payments it makes to search access points and services providers, includes payments to distribution partners who make available its search services, according to the 10-K. Google states that its distribution partners include browser providers, mobile carriers, original equipment manufacturers, and software developers. This portion of TAC was represented by the slide, which only referred to Search+ revenue.

Neither a Google nor an Apple spokesperson provided a comment when requested by CNBC.

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