Apple, Google and a Deal That Controls the Internet
I know I’m nitpicking, but this just doesn’t add up:<p>> Nearly half of Google’s search traffic now comes from Apple devices, according to the Justice Department<p>> The Justice Department, which is asking for a court injunction preventing Google from entering into deals like the one it made with Apple, argues that the arrangement has unfairly helped make Google, which handles 92 percent of the world’s internet searches, the center of consumers’ online lives.<p>What?  Worldwide, iOS market share is peanuts compared to Android. Depending on the report, the exact amount varies pretty widely, but nothing ever seems to report more than 18-ish percent worldwide. macOS is negligible. Meanwhile, Android’s market share is enormous.<p>Android devices alone—worldwide—could easily account for half of Google’s search traffic, especially when you consider countries like India. But the DOJ wants to argue that:<p>1. Google handles 92% of global search traffic<p>2. Half of Google’s traffic comes from Apple devices<p>If we believe that 92% figure, that places a generous upper limit of Google’s search traffic originating from Apple devices at about 20%, far short of “nearly half.”<p>Look, I hate the monopolistic nature of search just as much as the next person, but can we please double-check that our numbers actually make sense?