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Google reportedly paid Samsung a sum of $8 billion over four years so that its key services remain the default options on the OEM's phones. These include Google Search, Assistant, and the Play Store. This was revealed through an antitrust trial between Google and Epic Games, Bloomberg reported.
During the trial, James Kolotouros, VP for Partnerships at Google, confirmed this while questioned by a lawyer representing Epic Games, the report added. They said that Google's partnership with OEMs ensured it shared app store revenue with the companies. This way Google's services came pre-installed on Android phones, which is the case with almost all popular Android OEMs.
The report further reveals that the partnership between Google and Samsung involves more than just pre-installing apps. It's called 'Project Banyan', and it involves pre-installing Google apps on Android phones, and also sharing revenue including incentives. Google even proposed removing the Galaxy Store from home screens but this was not agreed upon. Samsung phones come with its own app store called 'Galaxy Store' where you can download apps that are otherwise available on the Play Store as well.
In addition to Google apps coming pre-installed on Android phones, OEMs are also paid to make sure these services are prioritised. Google's dominance greatly increases and to do so it does shell out a hefty sum. According to the report, Google proposed spending $2.9 billion in 2020, which then increased to $4.5 billion in 2023.