Title: Microsoft Claims Google Blocked Its Attempts to Secure Bing as Default Search Engine on Apple Devices
In an ongoing federal antitrust trial against Google, Microsoft recently revealed that its attempts to sell Bing as Apple’s default search engine were thwarted by the tech giant. Microsoft claimed that it had offered Apple more than 100% of the revenue or gross profit to make Bing the default search engine, surpassing Google’s reported offer of around 60%. However, Apple rejected the proposal due to its existing agreement with Google.
While the exact monetary value of Microsoft’s offer remains undisclosed, insiders suggest that it would have incurred a significant loss for the tech giant. Microsoft’s higher bid, which aimed to outdo Google’s financial offer, indicates that Apple’s decision may have been driven by factors beyond mere financial considerations.
Microsoft believed that it had presented a superior deal compared to Google, based on its estimation of the revenue payments Google made to Apple in the United States. However, Apple’s rejection of Microsoft’s higher monetary offer raises questions about the nature of their deal with Google and hints at the possibility of non-financial incentives.
This is not the first time Microsoft has encountered resistance in its pursuit of increasing Bing’s market share. The company also approached Samsung to make Bing the default search engine on its products, only to have their conversations shut down due to Samsung’s contractual obligations with Google.
In response to the situation, Parakhin, the CEO of Microsoft’s Advertising and Web Services, remarked that Microsoft was “just big enough to play but probably not big enough to win.” Despite their efforts, Microsoft acknowledges the challenges they face in competing with Google on a grand scale.
Microsoft further suggests that the optimal move for Apple would have been to switch to Bing as the default search engine in the United States, while continuing its partnership with Google in the rest of the world. This potential shift could have disrupted the status quo in the search engine market and provided more competition to Google’s dominant position.
As the antitrust trial against Google continues, Microsoft’s claims about the hindered partnership with Apple shed light on the intricacies of the tech industry and the efforts made by companies to gain an advantage in the highly competitive digital market.
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