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Internet search giant Google is set to pay Apple up to $1billion dollars in order to remain the default search engine in iOS devices, says Morgan Stanley.
Scott Devit, analyst at Morgan Stanley said in a new report the payment will ensure Google remains the default search provider on Apple’s iOS devices, including the iPhone and iPad, throughout 2014.
It wouldn’t be the first time Google paid a firm in order to be its default search provider, having notably made a similar agreement with Mozilla and its web browser Firefox.
Within the report, Devitt calculates that Apple will receive 31 per cent of Google’s traffic acquisition costs in 2014, as the firm spends a total of $3.5bn to make its search engine the default in third party software.
Mozilla’s payment of $400m pales in comparison to the $1 billion received by Apple, but the sheer popularity of Apple devices warrants a high price tag.
With the payment, Google not only limits the opportunities for rival firms within the default search provider race, but is also able to obtain valuable data from users when they access Google’s search engine.
