as information about Google’s payment of millions each year to Apple simply to get exposure on their devices for their search network services, it’s now been revealed that Samsung got over $12 billion dollars in payments during the past four years to ensure tha key services, including Google Search, Google Assistant, and the Google Play Store, remained the default options on Samsung Galaxy devices.
This is despite Samsung trying to peddle their own Bixby voice search technology.
During the recent antitrust trial involving Google and Epic Games, information was revealed relating to Google’s tactics to maintain its dominant position in the Android market.
A key aspect of this strategy involves its relationship with Samsung, the largest Android Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM).
Today Google is the default options on multiple Samsung Galaxy devices.
This is all part of Google’s broader agenda to solidify its presence within the Android ecosystem and discourage OEMs from promoting competing services or in Samsung’s case their own.
For instance, Samsung has its own Bixby voice assistant and Galaxy Store, which could have potentially overshadowed Google’s offerings.
Google On An Apple Device
James Kolotouros, Google’s Vice President for Partnerships, revealed these details during his testimony in a US Court last week.
He emphasized that Samsung’s contribution accounted for more than half of the Google Play Store’s revenue, underscoring the crucial role of Samsung devices in Google’s ecosystem.
This partnership between Google and Samsung forms part of a larger initiative by Google, known as Project Banyan, aimed at maintaining the dominance of its services on Android devices.
As part of this project, Google not only secured its apps’ pre-eminence on devices but also shared advertising revenue and offered incentives to OEMs for prioritizing Google’s apps.
In 2020, Google proposed spending $2.9 billion, which would increase to $4.5 billion by 2023, to ensure the availability of its search, Play, and other critical apps on various devices, including those from non-Android OEMs and wireless carriers.
ChannelNews understands that Motorola is now receiving money from Google to prioritise their services on Motorola phones.
Google’s agreement with Samsung initially included a proposal to prevent the Galaxy Store from being placed on home screens, though this plan was later abandoned.
This strategy was partly in response to competition from Apple, as Google aimed to improve the Android experience to attract potential iPhone switchers.
