Google to pay Apple $3 billion to remain default search engine on the iPhone

The Licensing fee paid by Google to Apple to remain it's default search engine on the i-phone has increased from $1B to a whooping $3B according to notes to investors. This licensing fee was a billion dollars just 3 years ago.

"Court documents indicate that Google paid Apple $1B in 2014, and we estimate that total Google payments to Apple in FY 17 may approach $3B," CNBC quoted analyst A.M. Sacconaghi Jr. as saying.

"Given that Google payments are nearly all profit for Apple, Google alone may account for five per cent of Apple's total operating profits this year, and may account for 25 per cent of total company OP growth over the last two years," he added.

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It is also important to mention that Apple's iOS is responsible for over 50% of Google's mobile search revenue, Sacconaghi noted.

This news is coming just hours after Google launched voice search support for 8 additional indian languages.

The languages are Bengali, Gujarati, Kannada, Malayalam, Marathi, Tamil, Telugu and Urdu. In order to perform a voice-based search, users will need to set their language in the "Voice" settings menu in Google app, the company said in a statement.

Reference firstpost & IANS