Google CEO warned of bad optics from Apple search engine deal

Published

2 years ago

October 27, 2023

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Google CEO Sundar Pichai once warned top executives that the company risked bad optics by pushing for its search engine to be the only option on Apples browser, according to emails submitted in the Justice Departments landmark antitrust trial.

Pichai outlined his concerns in emails sent in 2007 to Google co-founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin as well as other company leaders.

Pichai, who was heading up the team responsible for Googles Chrome browser, argued that the company should nudge Apple to allow customers to select their preferred search engine.

I know we are insisting on default, but at the same time I think we should encourage them to have Yahoo as a choice in the pull down or some other easy option, Pichai said in the email, according to Bloomberg.

I dont think it is a good user experience nor the optics is great for us to be the only provider in the browser, Pichai added.

Pichais past remarks could lend support to the Justice Departments key argument in the once-in-a-generation trial. The feds say Google pays more than $10 billion per year to smartphone makers like Apple and mobile carriers to secure default status on devices and block rivals from gaining market share.

Google has countered the argument by stating that customers choose its search engine because it is the best product of its kind. The Big Tech firms lawyers have also downplayed the importance of default status by asserting customers can change their search engine with just a few clicks.

On Tuesday, Justice Department attorneys also questioned Google executive Joan Braddi, who played a key role in negotiating the companys search deals with Apple and was included in Pichais messages.

Braddi testified that Apple repeatedly pushed for more flexibility on search engine defaults through revised terms for the Google deal including a 2014 agreement that cleared Apple to implement rivals’ search products in other countries.

When asked if Google currently pays a significant amount of money to Apple through the revenue-sharing deal, Braddi said: It wasnt always, but today, yes, according to Bloomberg.

Last week, Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella, whose company operates the rival Bing search engine, said the entire notion that consumers have a choice in the online search market is completely bogus due to Googles dominant hold on the market.

Google has a roughly 90% market share in online search, easily outpacing that of competitors such as Microsofts Bing and the privacy-focused DuckDuckGo.

Search advertising generated $42.6 billion in quarterly revenue, according to its latest earnings report in July — bucking a trend that has seen a slowdown in rivals Meta and Snap, Bloomberg reported.

Googles long-term partnership with Apple has been a central focus during the antitrust trial, which is roughly halfway through its expected 10-week run time.

Google has been the default search engine for Apples Safari browser since 2002. The two companies most recently renegotiated the deal in 2021.

Longtime Apple executive Eddy Cue, the companys senior vice president of services, previously defended the deal on the witness stand.

Cue told the court that Apple selected Google because there certainly wasnt a valid alternative we would have gone to at the time. He added that Apple hasnt developed its own search engine due to the quality of Googles product.

Politics

Why Boris’s best mate is off to Reform

Published

32 mins ago

July 10, 2025

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👉Listen to Politics at Sam and Anne’s on your podcast app👈       

Former Conservative chairman and friend of Boris Johnson – Sir Jake Berry – is defecting to Reform UK, causing more problems for Tory leader Kemi Badenoch.

On today’s episode, Sky News’ Sam Coates and Politico’s Anne McElvoy discuss if his defection will divide parts of Reform policy.

Elsewhere, the Anglo-French summit gets under way, with Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer hoping to announce a migration deal with French President Emmanuel Macron to deter small boat crossings.

Plus, chatter around Whitehall that No10 are considering a pre-summer reshuffle, but will it have any value?

US

Donald Trump praises Liberian president’s English – the country’s official language

Published

32 mins ago

July 10, 2025

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Donald Trump praises Liberian president's English - the country's official language

Donald Trump has praised the Liberian president’s command of English – the West African country’s official language.

The US president reacted with visible surprise to Joseph Boakai’s English-speaking skills during a White House meeting with leaders from the region on Wednesday.

After the Liberian president finished his brief remarks, Mr Trump told him he speaks “such good English” and asked: “Where did you learn to speak so beautifully?”

Mr Trump seemed surprised when Mr Boakai laughed and responded he learned in Liberia.

The US president said: “It’s beautiful English.

“I have people at this table who can’t speak nearly as well.”

Mr Boakai did not tell Mr Trump that English is the official language of Liberia.

The country was founded in 1822 with the aim of relocating freed African slaves and freeborn black citizens from the US.

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Mr Trump promised the leaders of Liberia, Senegal, Gabon, Mauritania and Guinea-Bissau a pivot from aid to trade at the surprise meeting.

He described the countries as “all very vibrant places with very valuable land, great minerals, and great oil deposits, and wonderful people”.

Later asked by a reporter if he’ll visit the continent, Mr Trump said, “At some point, I would like to go to Africa.”

But he added that he’d “have to see what the schedule looks like”.

Trump’s predecessor, President Joe Biden, promised to go to Africa in 2023, but only fulfilled the commitment by visiting Angola in December 2024, just weeks before he left office.

US

Gaza permanent ceasefire ‘questionable’, says Israeli government

Published

32 mins ago

July 10, 2025

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Gaza permanent ceasefire 'questionable', says Israeli government

The Israeli government believes the chances of achieving a permanent ceasefire in Gaza are “questionable”.

The pessimistic assessment, in a top-level Israeli government briefing given to Sky News, comes as the Israeli Prime Minister prepares to leave Washington DC after a four-day visit which had begun with the expectation of a ceasefire announcement.

Benjamin Netanyahu will leave the US later today with the prospect of even a temporary 60-day ceasefire looking extremely unlikely this week.

Within “a week, two weeks – not a day” is how it was framed in the background briefing late on Wednesday.

Crucially, though, on the chances of the ceasefire lasting beyond 60 days, the framing from the briefing was even less optimistic: “We will begin negotiations on a permanent settlement. But we achieve it? It’s questionable, but Hamas will not be there.”

Sky News has spoken to several Israeli officials at the top level of the government. None will be drawn on any of the details of the negotiations over concerns that public disclosure could jeopardise their chances of success.

But I have been given a very clear understanding of Mr Netanyahu’s thinking.

The Israeli position is that a permanent ceasefire (beyond the initial 60 days, which itself is yet to be agreed) is only possible if Hamas lays down its arms. “If they don’t, we’ll proceed [with the war],” said a source.

The major sticking point in the talks between Hamas and Israel is the status of the Israel Defence Forces (IDF) inside Gaza during the 60-day ceasefire and beyond, should it last longer.

The latest Israeli proposal, passed to Hamas last week, included a map showing the proposed IDF presence inside Gaza during the ceasefire.

This was rejected by Hamas and by Trump’s Middle East envoy, Steve Witkoff, who reportedly told the Israelis that the redeployment map “looks like a Smotrich plan”, a reference to the extreme-right Israeli finance minister, Bezalel Smotrich.

My briefing of Mr Netanyahu’s position is that he has not shifted in terms of Israel’s central stated war aims. The return of the hostages and eliminating Hamas are the key objectives.

But in a hint of how hard it will be to reconcile the differences, it was clear from my briefing that no permanent ceasefire is possible in the Israeli government’s view without the complete removal of Hamas as a political and military entity.

Hamas is not likely to negotiate its way to oblivion.

On the status of the Israeli military inside Gaza, a senior Israeli official told Sky News: “We would want IDF in every square metre of Gaza, and then hand it over to someone.”

It was clear to me that Mr Netanyahu wants his stated position to be that his government has no territorial ambition for Gaza.

One quote to come from my briefing, which I am only able to attribute to a senior Israeli official, says: “[We] don’t want to govern Gaza… don’t want to govern, but the first thing is, you have to defeat Hamas.”

Another clear indication of Mr Netanyahu’s position – a quote from the briefing, attributable only to a senior Israeli official: “You cannot have victory if you don’t clear out all the fighting forces.

“You have to go into every square inch unless you are not serious about victory. I am. We are going to defeat them. Those who do not disarm will die. Those who disarm will have a life.”

On the future of Gaza, it’s clear from my briefings that Mr Netanyahu continues to rule out the possibility of a two-state solution “for the foreseeable future”.

The Israeli government assessment is that the Palestinians are not going to have a state “as long as they cling to that idea of destroying our state”.

On the most controversial aspect of the Gaza conflict – the movement of the population – the briefing revealed that Mr Netanyahu’s view is that 60% of Palestinians would “choose to leave” but that Israel would allow them to return once Hamas had been eliminated.

“It’s not forcible eviction, it’s not permanent eviction,” a senior Israeli official said.

Critics of Israel’s war in Gaza say that any removal of Palestinians from Gaza, even if given the appearance of being “voluntary”, is in fact anything but, because the strip has been so comprehensively flattened.

Reacting to Israeli Defence Minister Katz’s recent statement revealing a plan to move Palestinians into a “humanitarian city” in southern Gaza, and not let them out of that area, the official wouldn’t be drawn, except to say: “As a permanent arrangement? Of course not.”