Google will not be barred from entering into search agreements with companies like Apple, the judge presiding over the antitrust case between Google and the U.S. Department of Justice said today (via Bloomberg).
Google is not allowed to enter into exclusive contracts for search engine distribution, but it is still allowed to pay to Apple to be a search engine option on iPhone. Apple earns around $20 billion annually from Google, and there was a risk that the two companies could be banned from entering into search engine agreements.
“Cutting off payments from Google almost certainly will impose substantial — in some cases, crippling — downstream harms to distribution partners, related markets, and consumers, which counsels against a broad payment ban,” said the judge.
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