Facts about Google and competition

Google’s free services

People have more ways to search for information than ever before — and increasingly this is happening outside the context of only a search engine.

Search is designed to provide people with the most relevant and helpful information available. People have more ways to search for information than ever before — and increasingly this is happening outside the context of only a search engine.

You can ask ChatGPT a wide range of questions, listen to music on Spotify, ask friends for information on WhatsApp and get recommendations on Instagram and TikTok. We face robust competition from an array of sources, including general and specialized search engines, as well as dedicated apps and new products powered by generative AI. Independent parties estimate that 61% of people in the U.S. start product searches on Amazon, not Google. And many online shoppers visit Walmart, eBay and other sites to purchase goods. For travel searches, many people go straight to Expedia, Kayak, Orbitz and TripAdvisor.

For queries where we make money by showing ads — typically queries with commercial intent — competition is particularly intense.

Improving Search

We’re constantly making changes to Search to improve people’s experience. We rigorously test proposed changes — running hundreds of thousands of experiments each year — and implement what makes Search more useful.

Our testing has consistently shown people want quick access to information, so over the years we’ve developed new ways to organize and display results. For example, we’ve built features to show maps to people searching for directions, quick access to flight and hotel options and helpful answers for people asking for a calculation or a unit conversion.

We respectfully disagree with the August 2024 decision in US v. Google involving our Search product, and we plan to appeal the decision. Worth noting, however: The Court’s decision recognizes that Google offers the best search engine, even while concluding that we shouldn’t be allowed to make it easily available. The Court found that Google “has long been the best search engine, particularly on mobile devices” and “has continued to innovate in search.”

Search results and rankings

Just like content on the web, Search is dynamic, and websites’ rankings will rise and fall over time based on a number of factors including freshness and relevance. Google is also an important way for smaller merchants and businesses to compete with larger competitors. On average, local results in Search drive more than 6.5 billion connections for businesses every month, including phone calls, directions, ordering food and making reservations. We provide tools to help businesses optimize how their sites perform in Search, with the aim to get more free traffic from people looking for the information and services they’re offering.

Android

Android, our open-source operating system, is available to device makers and carriers for free. This lowers the cost consumers pay for mobile devices. The Android model has created more choice for phone makers, app developers and billions of consumers who can now afford and use an array of cutting-edge smartphones available at every price point, including some as low as $50, which has made computing accessible to communities that had not been well-served by technology platforms in the past.

Choice has always been a core tenet of Android, and it’s why consumers have always had control over which apps they use — including their keyboard, messaging app and phone system.

The same is true of how people get their apps: Android has always allowed people to choose which app store to use, or even use multiple different stores. In fact, most Android devices come preloaded with two or more app stores right out of the box, and consumers can install additional app stores if they’d like to. People can also choose to download apps directly from a developer’s website, bypassing app stores altogether. This flexibility and choice for users globally is available only on Android. It’s important to note that we are committed to keeping Android users safe even while giving them choice. Google Play Protect scans 125 billion apps per day, regardless of whether they were installed from Google Play or another Android app store.

Google Play

Google Play, our online store on Android, is just one of many app stores Android users can use.

Through Google Play, we invest heavily in supporting developers at every stage of an app’s journey, providing an array of tools and features to help launch and grow successful businesses. Even after an app is installed, Google Play provides ongoing support to developers such as facilitating regular app updates and pushing critical security fixes, as well as a suite of powerful tools that enable developers to engage and retain users. Over the years, certain developers have tried to compare our service fee to the rates charged by payment processors. But these companies simply don’t provide tools and features that deliver the value that Google Play provides, such as distributing apps to billions of consumers.

Google funds our investments in Android and Google Play in part through a service fee that applies when a developer sells in-app digital goods or services on Google Play, a common model amongst digital platforms. We think this is a sensible model — we make money only when a developer does, so our success is aligned with theirs and we are incentivized to invest in continually improving the platform. Even with all the tools and features we provide, Google Play fees are the lowest among major app stores, with the vast majority of developers paying no service fee at all. Of the small percentage of global developers subject to a service fee, 99% qualify for a service fee of 15% or less. Over the years, our fees have only ever gone down, even as the value we provide to developers has increased.

Google Play includes an integrated billing system, using one of the world’s most advanced security infrastructures, that lets developers seamlessly and safely transact with customers around the world. When developers enter into these transactions, they still have many choices in how they charge for digital content. For one, we have expanded a program for users to choose between Google Play’s billing system and an alternative billing system of the developer’s choosing. Additionally, if a developer sells digital content to users outside of Google Play, including on the web or a rival app store, the user can still consume that content in the app downloaded from Google Play. And finally, if consumers download an app from a competing app store or directly from a developer’s website, they pay with that app store or developer’s billing system of choice.

Google Play also provides developers more flexibility than other platforms to manage their customer relationships. For example, developers are free to communicate with their customers outside of Google Play via email or other channels to inform them of other purchase options and lower cost alternatives, process refunds or provide customer support directly. We are continually evolving and improving our platform to ensure we remain competitive and are meeting the needs of developers and users.

Maps

When people are searching for an address or a location, they’re usually looking for information to get around or explore. We’ve launched countless helpful features, including real-time traffic, eco-friendly routing, transit schedules, road closures, popular times and information about businesses like hours of operation, menus, reservations and reviews. Thanks to our latest advancements in AI and our robust ecosystem of partners, merchants and contributors, we’re able to provide an even better map that is helpful, comprehensive and up-to-date.

We face competition from a wide range of mapping services, including Apple Maps — which is pre-loaded as the default map on iOS devices — Mapbox, Bing Maps, Here Technologies, OpenStreetMap, MapmyIndia, TomTom, Naver, Moovit, Yandex Maps, Baidu Maps, Petal Maps, Tencent Maps and Overture, as well as in-car navigation services and local information providers like Yelp and Tripadvisor, and more. People choose to use Google Maps because it provides helpful, high-quality information. Over the last five years, Google Maps has been downloaded on the iPhone hundreds of millions of times.

Developers also choose Google Maps Platform out of many options because they recognize it provides helpful, high-quality information. There are other free-to-use mapping services in addition to Google Maps Platform, with new competitors emerging.

Connected cars

When it comes to car infotainment systems, there is enormous competition, including Apple CarPlay, Amazon Alexa, Nuance Automotive and others. More than 800 car models support Apple CarPlay, and more than 200 car models support Alexa. Carmakers choose to partner with tech companies to improve the experience for their customers. Our goal is to enable carmakers and developers across the auto industry to develop software solutions at scale.

Like Android OS, we offer Android Automotive Operating System (AAOS) as an open-source operating system that provides more flexibility and customizability for car makers and developers to build apps and powerful infotainment experiences from the ground up. It is available to any carmaker for free.

Automakers have the option to license Google Automotive Services (GAS, aka “Google built-in”) to bring Google apps and services like Google Play Store, Google Assistant and Google Maps to their customers. This is entirely optional, and carmakers can and do install other third-party apps in addition to apps and services available as part of GAS. For instance, Google Maps is also available for free via Apple CarPlay and Android Auto. Access to Maps and Play do not require GAS.

Promoting Google Search

Like countless other businesses, we pay to promote our services. But in each case, consumers can and do easily access alternatives.

For digital services, when you first buy a device, it has a kind of home screen “eye level shelf.” On mobile, that shelf is controlled by Apple, as well as companies like AT&T, Verizon, Samsung and LG. On desktop, that shelf space is overwhelmingly controlled by Microsoft.

We have had agreements with many of those companies for eye-level shelf space, i.e. to make apps like Google Search easily accessible to users. But let's be clear: Our competitors have always been easily accessible, if you want to use them.

Our agreements with Apple, Mozilla and device makers and carriers are no different from the agreements that many other companies have traditionally had in place to distribute software. Other search engines, including Microsoft’s Bing, compete with us for these agreements.

As recognized in the August 2024 Department of Justice decision, “Apple and Mozilla occasionally assess Google’s search quality relative to its rivals and find Google’s to be superior.”

Here's more detail:

Apple devices and other browsers

Apple features Google Search in its Safari browser because they say Google is “the best.” This arrangement is not exclusive — Bing and Yahoo! pay to prominently feature, and other competitor services also appear. Changing your search engine in Safari is trivial: On desktop, you can see a range of options with just one click.

Microsoft

Google doesn't come preloaded on Windows devices. Microsoft preloads its Edge browser on Windows devices and Bing is the default search engine.

Android

The Android operating system is available to device makers and carriers for free. This lowers the costs of mobile phones for consumers. We incur costs in building and maintaining Android, and we’ve invested billions of dollars to make Android what it is today. To support that investment, we offer makers and carriers the option to preload a suite of products — for free — including Google Play, Google Search and other Google apps like Gmail and YouTube. These optional agreements directly reduce the price that people pay for phones. It benefits consumers who overwhelmingly prefer their phones to have basic functionality right out of the box. It also helps device makers compete with Apple, and carriers offer a variety of attractive devices to consumers.

These agreements are optional and not required for device makers who want to use Android. Device makers can just take the open-source Android operating system for free and build a phone without entering an agreement with Google. Some companies, like Amazon, choose this route. In addition, those who choose to include our services often preload numerous competing apps and app stores — all of which are completely consistent with Google’s agreements.

This model gives people enormous choice when it comes to the search services they use on mobile devices. It’s easy for people to remove Google Search or add a different search engine or widget on Android. Android also lets you easily set up rival voice assistants — like Alexa — that work with your connected devices.

Ads on Google

American small businesses use Google advertising tools to reach customers faster and at lower cost.

For ads on Google Search, a business pays only when someone clicks on or interacts with their ad. Plus, the business can decide how much it is prepared to pay — making search advertising far more affordable than other types of advertising. So rather than having to launch a pricey campaign, advertisers can start with small budgets and scale as they grow.

We don’t show ads on the vast majority of Search queries. Nearly all of the ads you see are on searches with commercial intent, such as searches for things like “sneakers” or “toaster.” We face particularly robust competition for these types of queries. Amazon, Meta, Bing, eBay, Snap, Twitter, Pinterest, Expedia, Kayak, Orbitz and many other companies all compete for commercial advertisements.

We invest significantly in our ads quality systems to continuously improve on our ability to show ads that are highly relevant to people, and helpful to what they’re searching for. Over time, this has led to better, more relevant ads and major improvements in the overall user experience.

Ad technology

The online advertising space is famously crowded, with thousands of companies working together and in competition with one another to power digital advertising across the web.

We compete with household names like Adobe, Amazon, Apple, Meta, Microsoft, Oracle, TikTok and Verizon, as well as lesser known but publicly traded leaders like The Trade Desk, Index Exchange, Magnite, MediaMath, OpenX and countless others. Even media companies like Comcast and Disney, and retailers like Walmart and Target, offer advertising technologies that compete with Google.

And competition is growing. In 2021, Microsoft acquired Xandr: an advertising platform that, like Google and many of its competitors, has a full ad tech stack that serves advertisers and publishers. This acquisition enabled Microsoft to sign a landmark deal to build Netflix’s advertising business. The government did not challenge this acquisition.

Our tools have helped website owners, app developers and video providers make more money from ads. Every year, we pay out billions of dollars to the publishing partners in our ad network.

Thousands of news publishers around the world use Google Ad Manager to run digital advertising on their websites, apps and videos. In a study looking at top news publishers using Google Ad Manager, we found they keep over 95% of the money from displaying digital ads on their content, on average.
Many marketers and publishers choose to use our advertising tools to buy and sell display ads online. Even when they use the full range of our tools, most of the money goes from advertisers to publishers. At most, we keep about 30% of the revenue, and that’s in cases when only Google’s tools are used.
This means we share a higher percentage of display ad revenue with publishers than the industry average. In other words, we charge less for our services than many of our competitors. Competition regulators themselves like the UK Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) have confirmed these fees are in line with prevailing industry rates.
A large portion of the revenue Google receives is reinvested into improving the tools and infrastructure that identify the most useful and relevant ads and increase publisher revenue.

Publishers and advertisers typically use multiple competing platforms at the same time to buy and sell ad space. According to industry studies, the average large publisher will use six different platforms to sell ads on its website this year, while advertisers and media agencies will use over three platforms to buy ads, on average.

People increasingly expect — and data privacy laws require — stricter control over ad tracking tools like cookies and ad identifiers. We are focused on meeting these expectations and requirements. We’re also creating privacy-protective solutions that enable others in the industry to operate and compete. For example, we’ve invested heavily in the expansion of Ads Data Hub to provide advertisers and agencies access to Google ads data in a way that preserves user privacy. In addition, we’ve introduced an open-source collaborative initiative called the Privacy Sandbox, working on alternatives to cookies that preserve privacy while enabling advertisers to run effective ads and measure their campaigns, and publishers to show relevant ads that help support quality online content. In 2022, we launched My Ad Center, a new way for people to have more control over the ads they see across Search, Discover and YouTube.

Investment in innovation

Our focus on continually improving our products means that our greatest source of innovation comes from extensive R&D.

There is a constant stream of innovative startups and investment in internet businesses has never been higher.

Google is an incubator for startup founders. Former Google employees have built more than 2,000 startups — far more than we have acquired — including companies like Instagram, Pinterest and Twitter.

In 2021 and 2022, Google submitted more than 6,500 research papers for publication, in areas such as machine learning, robotics, distributed systems, federated learning, differential privacy and cybersecurity. Nearly half of those submissions had at least one1 external collaborator, underscoring our commitment to working with the broader research community.

Our open-source computing platforms are available to anyone to use, and build apps or businesses on, for free. This includes TensorFlow, our open-source machine learning platform, Chromium, our open-source browser software, and Android, our open-source operating system, which today powers more than 24,000 different models of smartphones and laptops — all for free.

Cloud computing

The move to cloud-based computing has been one of the most significant developments in the digital economy in the last decade. It has lowered costs, improved security and provided services with unprecedented reach. It has also laid the foundation for entirely new companies that could not have existed before such as Spotify, Revolut and Snap because these firms are able to scale their technology use as they grow.

Google supports openness and interoperability in cloud computing. We have been a leader in promoting fair and open licensing for our customers since the start of the cloud revolution. For instance, we were the first to launch a multi-cloud infrastructure service, allowing customers to run workloads using multiple cloud providers in addition to Google, and the first to launch a multi-cloud data warehouse, allowing customers to manage data across multiple clouds).