The ongoing Google antitrust trial saw its most-high company executive testify on Monday (October 30). Google parent Alphabet CEO Sundar Pichai took to the witness box in the trial that is now almost 10-week long. The trial follows a 2020 antitrust claim over Google’s dominance in the online search market. Google claims that people use its search engine as it is the best and what Appleand Google are doing is plain business.Earlier this month,Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella too testified in the case. Here are key highlights from 3-hour-long testimony in court.
Pichai stood in the witness box, instead of sitting
Wearing a black suit, Pichai reportedly opted to stand behind the podium instead of sitting while delivering his testimony because of a sprained lower back.
Pichai often used a magnifying glass in his hand, pushing his glasses up on his forehead as he squinted down at a binder full of exhibits.
Google’s angry letter to Microsoft
The government attorney presented a letter sent in July 2005 by Google’s then-top lawyer David Drummond to Microsoft’s then-general counsel Brad Smith saying that making Internet Explorer the search default was anticompetitive. Bellshaw showed the mail to establish that Google well understood the importance of default setting in the technology industry.
Pichai: I don’t recall myself saying that line
An email from 2018, written ahead of a meeting between Pichai and Apple CEO Tim Cook and presented at the trial, showed that Google was concerned about Apple’s “query cannibalization.” According to a report in CNBC, notes from that meeting shown in court read, “Sundar also strongly stated that you send us queries and we do our best to answer these (and monetize) — always in good faith and because our incentives are aligned.” Another bullet point from the notes showed Google’s collaboration with Apple on search: “Our vision is that we work as if we are one company.”
“Android has helped bring hundreds of millions of people online”
Pichai said that Google built its Chrome browser and Android smartphone operating system to help consumers more easily access the web — and use the company’s search engine “more seamlessly.” Android “has helped bring hundreds of millions of people online,” he said. Google realized “the better you make the web experience, they would use the web more. They would search the web more,” he added, defending his company’s position.
Give and take for Apple and Google
According to a report in Bloomberg, as part of its search agreement with Apple, Google agreed not to promote its Chrome browser to Safari users. Google would have been able to do this with banners, pop-ups and other annoying means in other Google apps. The agreement also meant that Apple never switched to a Google competitor on iPhones for browser.
Google’s deleted chat logs
During Pichai’s testimony, the DOJ also touched on Google’s policy of deleting internal chat messages, despite being subject to a litigation hold. DOJ accused Google of systematically destroying chats through its history-off option, which deletes messages every 24 hours unless a user manually changed the setting. According to CNBC, Pichai told court that he took action against the history-off default for chat in February to comply with the DOJ’s litigation hold. When the US government counsel pulled up a message exchange in 2021 where Pichai reportedly asked for history to be turned off in a group chat. Pichai responded that this was because he wanted to discuss a personnel matter and that the subject had nothing to do with the litigation hold.
Many companies use our technology
Pichai said that there are so many companies that use Google’s technology. “Microsoft’s Edge browser is based on Google’s technology and hundreds of products use Android, from phones to computers to fitness equipment made by Peloton Interactive Inc,” he said.
Pichai stood in the witness box, instead of sitting
Wearing a black suit, Pichai reportedly opted to stand behind the podium instead of sitting while delivering his testimony because of a sprained lower back.
Pichai often used a magnifying glass in his hand, pushing his glasses up on his forehead as he squinted down at a binder full of exhibits.
Google’s angry letter to Microsoft
The government attorney presented a letter sent in July 2005 by Google’s then-top lawyer David Drummond to Microsoft’s then-general counsel Brad Smith saying that making Internet Explorer the search default was anticompetitive. Bellshaw showed the mail to establish that Google well understood the importance of default setting in the technology industry.
Pichai: I don’t recall myself saying that line
An email from 2018, written ahead of a meeting between Pichai and Apple CEO Tim Cook and presented at the trial, showed that Google was concerned about Apple’s “query cannibalization.” According to a report in CNBC, notes from that meeting shown in court read, “Sundar also strongly stated that you send us queries and we do our best to answer these (and monetize) — always in good faith and because our incentives are aligned.” Another bullet point from the notes showed Google’s collaboration with Apple on search: “Our vision is that we work as if we are one company.”
“Android has helped bring hundreds of millions of people online”
Pichai said that Google built its Chrome browser and Android smartphone operating system to help consumers more easily access the web — and use the company’s search engine “more seamlessly.” Android “has helped bring hundreds of millions of people online,” he said. Google realized “the better you make the web experience, they would use the web more. They would search the web more,” he added, defending his company’s position.
Give and take for Apple and Google
According to a report in Bloomberg, as part of its search agreement with Apple, Google agreed not to promote its Chrome browser to Safari users. Google would have been able to do this with banners, pop-ups and other annoying means in other Google apps. The agreement also meant that Apple never switched to a Google competitor on iPhones for browser.
Google’s deleted chat logs
During Pichai’s testimony, the DOJ also touched on Google’s policy of deleting internal chat messages, despite being subject to a litigation hold. DOJ accused Google of systematically destroying chats through its history-off option, which deletes messages every 24 hours unless a user manually changed the setting. According to CNBC, Pichai told court that he took action against the history-off default for chat in February to comply with the DOJ’s litigation hold. When the US government counsel pulled up a message exchange in 2021 where Pichai reportedly asked for history to be turned off in a group chat. Pichai responded that this was because he wanted to discuss a personnel matter and that the subject had nothing to do with the litigation hold.
Many companies use our technology
Pichai said that there are so many companies that use Google’s technology. “Microsoft’s Edge browser is based on Google’s technology and hundreds of products use Android, from phones to computers to fitness equipment made by Peloton Interactive Inc,” he said.
Denial of responsibility! TechCodex is an automatic aggregator of the all world’s media. In each content, the hyperlink to the primary source is specified. All trademarks belong to their rightful owners, and all materials to their authors. For any complaint, please reach us at – [email protected]. We will take necessary action within 24 hours.
Alex Smith is a writer and editor with over 10 years of experience. He has written extensively on a variety of topics, including technology, business, and personal finance. His work has been published in a number of magazines and newspapers, and he is also the author of two books. Alex is passionate about helping people learn and grow, and he believes that writing is a powerful tool for communication and understanding.
