Pichai, appearing as a Google witness, can expect questions regarding the company's investments in maintaining competitiveness in search, particularly with the rise of smartphones, and advancements in search advertising.
Sundar Pichai, the CEO of Alphabet and its subsidiary Google, is set to testify on Monday in the landmark antitrust battle centered on Google's search dominance and aspects of search advertising.
In his role as a Google witness, Pichai is expected to discuss the company's investments to maintain search competitiveness, particularly in the smartphone era, and advancements in search advertising. During cross-examination, the government may inquire about the substantial annual payments made by the company to secure Google search as the default option on smartphones.
In the ongoing context:
The government contends that Google, which dominates around 90% of the search market, engaged in potentially illegal annual payments of approximately $10 billion to smartphone manufacturers such as Apple, wireless carriers like AT&T, and others. This was done to secure its position as the default search engine on their devices and maintain its market dominance. Google's strong presence in the search market significantly bolsters its profitability within the lucrative advertising sector.
Google, on the other hand, maintains that its revenue-sharing agreements are within the bounds of the law. The company asserts that it has made substantial investments to ensure the competitiveness of both its search and advertising businesses. Furthermore, Google argues that users have the option to switch to alternative search providers if they are dissatisfied with the default settings, and many indeed exercise this choice.
