Fewer searches with Google in Safari: Apple claims rejected
Apple's head of services claimed in court that the company was seeing fewer Google requests for the first time. The internet giant sees things very differently.
Google logo: Safari generates important revenue.
(Image: CryptoFX/Shutterstock.com)
Alphabet does not believe that the number of Google searches from Apple devices has decreased. Last week, the internet giant rejected a comment to this effect made by Apple's head of services Eddy Cue during an appearance before a US court. According to this, there is actually "overall query growth" in search. "This includes an increase in the total number of queries coming from Apple's devices and platforms", according to the rather pointedly worded statement. The company did not provide any details.
Cue: AI search is the future
Apple's powerful Senior Vice President of Services was invited to testify in the antitrust proceedings of the US Department of Justice (DoJ) against Google parent Alphabet. The DoJ wants to split up the internet giant and prohibit it from concluding search agreements like the one with Apple. Alphabet currently pays Apple around 20 billion US dollars a year to be the default search in Safari on the iPhone, iPad and Mac. Cue had said that in April 2025, Google search queries were reduced for the first time ever. "That hasn't happened in 22 years," said the manager.
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In his opinion, this has to do with the increasing use of AI search tools such as Perplexity, ChatGPT or CoPilot. Google itself has its AI system, Gemini, which is increasingly being integrated into search. According to Cue, Apple itself is also considering taking a closer look at AI search and integrating it into Safari.
Alphabet shares clearly in the red
Cue's statement had a negative impact on Alphabet shares. Shortly after the announcement, the share price fell by a good 7.5 percent. After a small recovery, the shares are still down significantly, by 6.24 percent over the past five days. Alphabet's statement therefore did little to help the group. The company went on to emphasize that it was adding new functions to Google Search to make it "more useful" for US users. "They're accessing [search] in new ways, whether it's through their browser, the Google app or their voice [via Gemini's Voice Mode] or Google Lens."
Google plans to announce exactly what this means at its own developer conference I/O – plus new features. The event is scheduled for May 20 and 21 and will take place digitally – just like Apple's WWDC –.
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