Microsoft Almost Sold Bing To Apple Back In 2018, But Google's Court Documents Reveal Why Deal Didn't Go Through

Alphabet Inc.'s GOOG GOOGL Google has formally revealed in a recent court document that Microsoft Corp. MSFT had proposed to sell its search engine, Bing, to Apple AAPL back in 2018.

What Happened: The disclosure came to light in a document unsealed on Friday, as part of Google’s ongoing antitrust case against the U.S. Justice Department.

The case is centered around Google’s alleged monopoly in web search advertising and its agreements with Apple to maintain its search engine’s exclusivity. Google also has agreements with Android phone makers to use its search engine as the default offering.

Google’s filing revealed that Microsoft had approached Apple multiple times between 2009 and 2020, proposing to make Bing the default search engine for Apple’s Safari web browser. However, Apple consistently declined, citing quality issues with Bing.

Google argued in the filing that these negotiations demonstrated competition in the market. The company also revealed that Microsoft had offered to sell Bing to Apple or establish a joint venture related to Bing in 2018.

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The Justice Department’s own filing disclosed that Microsoft had spent nearly $100 billion on Bing over two decades. Despite this investment, Bing currently holds a 3.42% of the global market share, according to the latest data from StatCounter.

Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella testified in the trial that he had consistently pursued a default arrangement for Bing with Apple during his tenure. The Justice Department’s filing also suggested that Apple had considered developing its own search engine if it did not receive substantial payments from Google.

Why It Matters: This revelation adds a new layer to the ongoing competition in the search engine market. Unnamed sources had previously suggested that Microsoft approached Apple to offload Bing, but the deal never went through because of quality issues. Now, Google's court filings confirm this.

However, Microsoft-backed OpenAI is now developing a tool with support from Bing. While Microsoft's search engine has failed to pose a challenge to Google, this tool from OpenAI could help Redmond achieve something it has been trying since the turn of the century.

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Disclaimer: This content was partially produced with the help of Benzinga Neuro and was reviewed and published by Benzinga editors.

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