Google's $1B to Apple for iOS search rights was a steal

Google paid Apple $1 billion in 2014 for the right to be the default search provider on iOS devices, including iPhones and iPads, according to a report by Bloomberg Thursday.

"Is that a steal? Absolutely," said Will Stofega, an analyst with IDC, in an interview today. "Given as much as Apple has captured the high end of smartphones, [iOS users] are the people with more money." And so they're of great interest to any search provider whose revenue depends on ads, like Google.

The news service quoted a transcript of a Jan. 14 hearing in a four-year-old lawsuit in which Oracle accused Google of copyright infringement when it allegedly used Java to build Android.

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