Apple asked the D.C. Circuit to reject the Justice Department’s bid to bar Google from paying it for default search placement, saying in a friend-of-the-court brief that a ban would “benefit Google at the expense of third parties and consumers.” Apple argued that without the payments it would either have to keep Google as the default for free, handing Google a windfall, or switch to a worse search engine, and it said it has no plans to build one of its own. Judge Amit Mehta ruled in 2024 that Google illegally maintained a search monopoly, and his 2025 remedies banned exclusive default deals but let the payments to Apple and Mozilla continue. The DOJ and states are appealing to end those payments, while Google is appealing the monopoly ruling itself, with oral arguments set for January.
