Google CEO Sundar Pichai returns to court to defend internet company

Google CEO Sundar Pichai was summoned to federal court for the second time in two weeks to testify in an antitrust trial threatening to topple a pillar of an internet empire that he helped buildIn his latest court appearance in San Francisco Pichai spent more than two hours defending the business practices of the Google Play Store which distributes apps for the companys Android software that powers most of the worlds smartphonesAt times the softspoken Pichai looked nonplussed and frustrated by the confrontational questioning he faced Other times he came across as a professor explaining complex subjects to the trials 10person jury located just a few feet from a podium Pichai was allowed to use because he had difficulty sitting for prolonged periodsEpic Games the maker of the popular video game Fortnite is trying to convince the jury that a Google Play payment processing system that collects a 15 per cent to 30 per cent commission from inapp purchases is illegally hurting consumers and software developersGoogle collects those commissions according to Epic by using its market muscle to thwart competing Android app stores a strategy that drives up prices and discourages innovationIt echoes a previous case that Epic brought against Apple the iPhone maker that is alternately being depicted as Googles foe and ally in this trialPichais latest testimony came 15 days after he travelled to Washington DC to take the stand in a separate antitrust trial revolving around the US Justice Departments allegations that Google has stifled competition and innovation by abusing the power of the dominant search engine that launched the company in 1998Although the two trials are unfolding on opposite ends of the country and are delving into different parts of a company that investors value at USD 17 trillion they are touching upon at least two common issues Googles immense power and its unusual relationship with Apple an even bigger tech powerhouseA key part of Googles defence against the allegations that its Play Store is running an illegal monopoly on Android apps hinges on the assertion that the company faces major competition from Apples iPhone mobile operating system and app storeMeanwhile the Justice Departments case against Google in Washington is focused largely on deals that the company negotiated with Apple to ensure that Googles search engine automatically fields queries entered on iPhones and Apples Safari browserAfter Monday testimony from an expert witness in the Washington antitrust trial revealed Google shared 36 per cent of its ad revenue from Safari search queries with Apple in 2021 Pichai was forced to confirm the figure on Tuesday in San Francisco under often combative questioning by Epic lawyer Lauren MoskowitzThings got so tense that before recessing for a short break US District Judge James Donato described the backandforth between Epics lawyer and Pichai as a rocking 75 minutesBefore the testimony began Donato had granted Moskowitzs request to disclose the precise amount of money that Google paid Apple in 2021 over objections from both Google and Apple lawyers but she never got that specificInstead Moskowitz got Pichai to acknowledge that Apple received the bulk of the USD 263 billion that Google paid for all of its 2021 deals that locked in its search engine as the automatic handler of queries on smartphones and web browsers Analysts have estimated Apples annual take from Google to be in the range of USD 15 billion to USD 20 billionMoskowitz also pointed out that Apples 36 per cent cut from Googles search ad revenue in the Safari browser was more than twice the 16 per cent rate paid to Samsung the biggest seller of Android smartphones That point seemed to be aimed at painting Apple as one of Googles biggest business partners rather than a major competitorAlthough he sometimes seemed to be caught off balance by Moskowitzs aggressive questioning Pichai never wavered from his insistence that Google and Android compete fiercely with Apple and the iPhone a rivalry he asserted has given consumers more choices and driven down pricesWe enable more affordable smartphones Pichai said of Android which Google gives away to Samsung and other smartphone manufacturers for free in exchange for putting the companys search engine and other services such as its Play Store on the devices That Pichai added is very different from what Apple doesApples specter looms over the Play Store in other ways too given Epic Games already has lost in a similar 2021 trial that targeted the payment system for the iPhone app storeAlthough a federal judge sided with Apple on most fronts in that trial the outcome opened one potential crack in the digital fortress that the company has built around the iPhoneThe judge and an appeals court both determined Apple should allow apps to provide links to other payment options a change that could undermine the commissions that both Apple and Google collect on digital purchases made within a mobile app Apple is appealing that part of the ruling to the US Supreme CourtEvidence submitted during Pichais Tuesday testimony showed just how lucrative the Play Store has been for Google During the first half of 2020 for instance the Play Store generated an operating profit of USD 44 billionSteered by questioning from a Google lawyer Pichai pointed out that the figure didnt account for the billions of dollars that the company spends on the Android operating system that ensures people have other smartphone options than the iPhoneHe also pointed out that 97 per cent of software developers with apps in Google Play dont pay any fees at all because they either dont sell digital goods or dont generate enough revenue to reach the threshold that triggers the commissionsThe way we designed Google Play is we do well only when developers do well Pichai saidThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability 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