How Much Google Pays to Apple in 2025 (Revealed): The $20 Billion Deal Explained

1. Introduction – The Billion-Dollar Question

What if I told you that every time you search for something on your iPhone, it’s helping Apple make billions?

In 2025, Google is expected to pay Apple over $20 billion — just to stay as the default search engine on Safari. That’s how much Google pays to Apple each year for one thing: attention.

Yes, Google shells out this massive amount simply to stay at the top of your iPhone’s search bar.

Why? Because controlling search on Apple devices means access to hundreds of millions of high-value users — and billions in ad revenue.

But this cozy deal might not last much longer. With AI-powered search engines gaining ground and Apple introducing ChatGPT into iOS, Google’s dominance could be on shaky ground.

Here’s a quick look at how the deal has grown:

Coming up next: we’ll break down what this $20B deal really means and how it shapes the future of tech.

2. Why Google Pays Apple $20 Billion for Safari in 2025

Behind the shiny face of your iPhone there is one of the biggest business deals in the tech world history.

Every year, Google pays Apple billions of dollars — in 2025, the number reached an estimated $20 billion — just to be the default search engine on Safari. This means, every time you open Safari and enter a search, it is going through Google, not because it is the best, but because it paid for that spot.

But why is it so valuable?

Because Safari is responsible for a major part of the world’s mobile web traffic — and most of that is from iPhones. Google earns billions of dollars from ads when users click on search results, ads, or shopping links. So, remaining on top of Safari is like having the front page of the internet.

Apple Devices Drive the Deal

Apple controls a massive share of the mobile market:

• There are more than 1.5 billion active iOS devices worldwide
• Safari holds almost 25% of the browser market share globally
• Apple users tend to spend more — and click more on ads

So, Google is not only paying for placement… it is paying to own the attention of premium users.

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3. How Much Google Pays to Apple — And Why It Makes Business Sense

At first, paying $20 billion a year just to be the default search engine on Safari might have looked like a crazy idea. But for Google, it is not just about visibility — it is about survival.

📈 Search = Revenue

Each time you search via Safari, you are not only looking for information — you are also feeding Google’s ad machine. The revenue from advertisements generated by each click on a sponsored result, each shopping search, and each ad impression becomes the source of ad revenue for Google.

Experts claim that, more than 60% of mobile search traffic in the U.S. comes from Apple devices. Consequently, if Google loses that position, Google could lose sales revenue equal to tens of billions of dollars per year.

Apple Users = Premium Users

The most-valued audience of Apple comes with a gold tag on them:

• Higher income brackets
• More likely to buy products from search results
• More engaged in the Apple ecosystem

This turns Apple users into the most valuable ad targets on the web. Access to them is what Google needs exclusively.

The ROI Makes Sense

We can put it in a very simple way:

Google Pays Apple

Google Earns in Ads

$20 Billion

$50–60 Billion

So yes, it’s a crazy big number, but a solid profit is still there.

Safari = Google’s Secret WeaponSo whoever owns Safari… owns your searches.

4. How the $20 Billion Google-Apple Deal Was Leaked in 2025

Up to only a short time ago, the Google-Apple deal was kept very secret. But because of antitrust lawsuits and court filings, the veil was lifted in 2025 — and the picture we got was stunning.

The Leak: $20B Confirmed Back in 2025

At the end of 2024, documents from a court unveiled that Google paid Apple more than $20 billion in 2023 alone — and if nothing changed, the same amounts would be paid in 2025. This deal is considered one of the largest traffic acquisition agreements in history.

Apple executive Eddy Cue spoke about this during the ongoing antitrust trial against Google conducted by the Department of Justice:

“Google has been our default search partner for years… the deal is mutually beneficial.”

Apple has, however, been quietly looking for other options behind the scenes.

AI Joins the Game

The real surprise is that Apple has changed quite a bit and no longer fully relies on Google for search. In 2025, Apple came up with:

• ChatGPT integration into iOS 18
• AI-powered answers inside Siri and Spotlight
• Talks announced with OpenAI and Anthropic about default search experiences
• Rumors of a first-party Apple AI assistant in the works

This move is huge. Apple may even make the most of AI to access the needed information in a snap, so it may even get rid of search engines

• AI is revolutionizing the way people search
• Apple is aiming for more influence (and maybe also a larger part of the ad revenue)
• Google is going through a tough time with regulators and competitors
• And honestly – Apple just doesn’t like being dependent on anyone

In a nutshell: the problem is becoming visible. And if Apple decides to leave, Google would be in a search traffic nightmare situation in no time.

5. AI Search: The Google Killer?

Google search has been the same for almost 20 years except for minor changes and that is a search box, list of links, and lots of ad clicks.

However, 2024 and 2025 events have altered everything.

ChatGPT Has Revolutionized The Industry

When Apple launched ChatGPT on iOS 18, a different way to receive information was made available for the users — a quick, natural, and ad-free experience. No blue links. No SEO tricks. Only the things they were looking for.

And people were enthusiastic about it.

Spotlight Search, Siri, and the share sheet were all able to create AI responses along with providing reasons, and rewriting messages, or solving technical questions through AI without even opening Google.

Why

Google Is Under Threat

Let me explain what makes AI search so threatening to Google’s business model:

Simply put, AI search is designed to serve the user, not to profit from their intention. That spells bad news for Google.

Apple Doesn’t Need Google Anymore

With AI tools like:

• ChatGPT natively in iOS
• Siri getting smarter with every update
• On-device machine learning (Apple Neural Engine)

Apple is no longer far away from introducing a search engine that does not incorporate Google or links in any way.

In other words: Apple might not renew the $20B agreement, still have its users only within its ecosystem, and even — if things go well — be the new leader in search.

6. What If Apple Ditches Google?

I mean, Let’s play it out: The $20B search deal is dead. Google no longer has a hold on Safari. So what now?

Google’s Traffic Drops — Fast

More than 30% of Google’s mobile search traffic is from Apple devices. Imagine if that goes away instantly:

• Ad revenue in the billions will go missing
• Google’s ad targeting will become weaker
• Competitors will snatch up the gap quickly

This would be a loss of not only money but also in attention in the tech history that is the biggest so far.

Apple Takes Control

If Apple decided to take off Google as the primary search engine, it might:

• Turn its AI assistant into the default one
• Interchange with ChatGPT or Anthropic for the queries
• Continue on-device results that are never out of iOS

This is like hitting bull’s eye for Apple as it gives them complete control over the user experience and user data. The users remain within the Apple ecosystem — there is no need for a Google transition.

Who Wins the AI Search War?

Here are the top contenders:

Player	Strengths	Weaknesses
Apple + ChatGPT	Built into iOS, clean UX, private	Needs own index or licensed data
OpenAI	Fast, accurate AI responses	No deep ad system yet
Anthropic (Claude)	Safe, context-rich AI	Less brand awareness
Google (Gemini)	Has data, AI & ad stack	Dependent on traditional links
Microsoft (Bing + Copilot)	Powerful AI tools, owns GPT	Still lacks user trust & usage

To be honest,

The AI battle is definitely not only about who comes up with the most brilliant chatbot but also about who has the power over the device and the data. And, as of now, Apple is the one that has the keys.

7. What This Means for You, Marketers & the Future of Search

We’re at the brink of a search revolution — and it’s going to turn the digital world upside down.

The Users: It will be easier, smarter, and more private

What if Apple changes Google for an AI-native assistant?

• You get concise answers, no clickbait headlines
• It will be no need to go through 10 sites for a recipe anymore
• Your searches will be private, on-device, and customized for you
• You will get less distraction, and no SEO spam

In other words, your phone becomes like a clever human assistant instead of an ad platform.

The Marketers: The Old SEO Playbook Is Fading

Marketers and bloggers are really scared by this change.

Why?

AI search tools no longer provide 10 blue links so they answer the question at once without always giving the source.

This implies:

• Less traffic for websites
• More difficult to rank for keywords
• Your brand visibility decreases unless you appear in the AI model

Marketers will have to change quickly — concentrate on brand building, product integration, and trust signals that AI can identify.

The Web: A Huge Power Change

If Apple leaves Google, and users prefer AI answers, the ripple effects may be huge:

• Billions in ad money gets rerouted
• The importance of “web traffic” declines
• AI training data becomes the new gold
• The tech giant who controls answers wins — not just search

8. Is Google’s Reign Over on Apple Devices?

We can’t deny that the way we look for things online is evolving — rapidly.

Apple has become more than a mere hardware company. Leveraging ChatGPT, on-device AI, and a massive global ecosystem, the company is setting itself up to be the leader in the search of the future. And Google, the one that was thought to be unbeatable, is now in danger of losing the most valuable place in the game: the default spot on Safari.

Final Thought

The $20 billion agreement between Apple and Google was not only about the money — it was about the eyeballs.

However, AI is causing the shift of that attention. If Apple leaves Google, they won’t just be breaking a partnership — it might be the birth of a new era, a time after Google search.

And in this new scenario, the winner shall not be the one who has the most links…

What the smartest answers will be having…

FAQ