Google Oracle lawsuit: Search giant paid Apple $1 billion to feature in iOS search bar

The ongoing lawsuit where Oracle is suing Google for allegedly using unlicensed software in the Android OS, has revealed something big indeed. In a public transcript an Oracle lawyer has revealed that Google actually had a revenue sharing agreement with Apple and that the company apparently handed over a percentage of the same two years ago. Shedding more light on the topic revealed that the search giant may have actually paid Apple a percentage of the revenue, which was generated by iOS users searching via Google on their devices. This was speculation from many years but nothing could be confirmed until now. The report from Bloomberg confirms another topic of discussion but eventually proves that Apple does reap more than $1 billion just from Google search referrals, even though both companies have never talked about the same officially. The other topic which was speculation until now, proves that Apple indeed benefits (in a big way) by allowing Google to basically do what it wants with the data generated from iOS search results. According to the same Oracle lawyer, Annette Hurst, interviews had revealed that at one point in time, that revenue share was 34 percent. But for now it remains unclear whether this fixed margin is the share that Google holds back or pays to Apple. And yes, this is turning out to be a bad day for Apple as well. This is because Apple CEO, Tim Cook was noted for his statements that went against selling search data in the past. Now that things between Apple and Google are opening up, Apple may have some damage control to look after indeed. The epic legal battle between the tech titans over use of Oracle’s Java in Google’s Android operating system has been raging on for quite a while. In a recent update, Google announced that it would be replacing the use of Java application programming interfaces (APIs) in Android with OpenJDK – the open source version of Oracle’s Java Development Kit.