During the Justice Department’s antitrust trial, a senior executive at Alphabet’s Google revealed that the company paid a substantial $26.3 billion to other firms in 2021 to secure its search engine as the default choice on web browsers and mobile devices.

This figure represents a significant increase in the payments Google made for default status, surpassing more than threefold the amount recorded in 2014. Prabhakar Raghavan, a top company executive responsible for both search and advertising, provided this information.

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In 2021, Google reported a substantial $146.4 billion in revenue from search advertising, with the cost of securing default settings being its most significant expenditure.

Google has not yet issued a response to this disclosure. The company has consistently argued that its revenue-sharing agreements are lawful and that it has made substantial investments to maintain competitiveness in its search and advertising divisions. Google has also contended that users have the freedom to switch to an alternative search provider if they are dissatisfied with default settings.

Google had raised objections to the disclosure of these figures, claiming it could potentially undermine the company’s ability to engage in future contract negotiations. However, Judge Amit Mehta, presiding over the case, determined that the numbers should be made public.