Google appeals $20B Safari deal ruling

Google asked the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit on May 22 to overturn the ruling that found it illegally maintained monopolies in general search and search text advertising. The appeal puts renewed focus on the company’s long-running arrangement with Apple to remain the default search engine in Safari, a distribution deal that became one of the central facts in the Justice Department’s case. Google says the district court treated those defaults as unlawful even though Apple chose Google because it offered the best search product and the best economics. The Justice Department has already said the remedies ordered in 2025 were meant to open search and search advertising markets and to prevent Google from extending the same tactics into generative AI. ### Why is the Apple Safari deal back at the center of the case? Apple’s Safari placement deal is back in focus because the government’s monopoly case against Google relied heavily on default search agreements with distributors, including Apple. In a related D.C. Circuit judgment issued on March 21, 2025, the court described the government’s allegations that Google used its Internet Services Agreement with Apple to secure default status and share advertising revenue, substantially foreclosing rivals from an important distribution channel. (msn.com) Google’s new appeal argues that Apple picked Google “fair and square,” according to reports that describe the filing. The company says Apple chose Google because users preferred it and because the arrangement produced more revenue for Apple than alternatives such as Microsoft’s Bing, according to coverage of the appeal brief. (media.cadc.uscourts.gov) ### What exactly is Google asking the appeals court to do? Google is asking the D.C. Circuit to reverse U.S. District Judge Amit Mehta’s liability ruling and related remedies, according to reports on the filing. Courthouse News said the company’s appeal brief runs 111 pages and challenges both the finding that Google unlawfully maintained its search position and the data-sharing remedies imposed afterward. (appleinsider.com) The Justice Department said on September 2, 2025 that the district court had barred Google from entering or maintaining exclusive contracts tied to the distribution of Google Search, Chrome, Google Assistant and the Gemini app. The department also said the court ordered Google to make certain search index and user-interaction data available to rivals and to offer search and search text ads syndication services. (courthousenews.com) ### Where does the “$20 billion” figure come from? The roughly $20 billion figure refers to what multiple reports have said Google paid Apple in a recent year to remain the default search engine in Safari. AppleInsider described the Safari arrangement as a roughly $20 billion deal, and other coverage of the appeal repeated that estimate. (justice.gov) The district court record has long shown that the Apple agreement was a revenue-sharing arrangement rather than a flat licensing fee. The March 2025 appellate judgment in Apple’s separate intervention fight said Google preloaded as the default on Apple devices in exchange for a portion of advertising revenue generated from searches on those devices. (appleinsider.com) ### Why does this matter beyond search? The Justice Department said in its 2025 remedies announcement that the court’s order was designed not only to address search, but also to prevent Google from using the same tactics for its generative AI products. That language tied the search case directly to newer distribution fights over products such as Gemini. (media.cadc.uscourts.gov) That means the appeal is also about whether default distribution agreements remain a lawful advantage for incumbent platforms. If the D.C. Circuit narrows or reverses the ruling, Google would keep more room to defend paid default placements; if the remedies stand, the government will have stronger support for policing similar arrangements tied to search, browsers, assistants and AI products. That is an inference from the remedies order and the issues Google raised on appeal. (justice.gov) ### What happens next in court? The D.C. Circuit will now take briefing from Google, the Justice Department and the states that joined the case, with any oral argument to be scheduled later by the court. The case follows years of litigation that began with the federal and state complaint filed in 2020 and produced the monopoly ruling in August 2024 and remedies in September 2025. (media.cadc.uscourts.gov) (justice.gov)