A historic trial opened on 12 September against the internet giant, accused of abuse of dominant position by the US government.
According to the Ministry of Justice, Google built its empire through illegal exclusivity contracts with companies such as Samsung, Apple and Mozilla, to have its tool installed by default on their devices and services, and thus prevent any alternative from emerging.
"I don't think there's anyone as good as Google at online search," Eddy Cue, an Apple vice president, told the court.
"There was no viable alternative to Google at the time. And we never really considered choosing another one," he added.
Cue was referring to a series of deals that began in 2002: Google paid billions of dollars to Apple to get a prominent place on its electronic devices.
The deal was updated in 2016, so that the iPhone maker would receive a larger share of Google's advertising revenue derived from its search engine, via Safari, Apple's internet browser.
Cue's testimony was only briefly public, before continuing behind closed doors as companies feared sharing sensitive data.
Google has ten weeks of hearings to try to persuade federal judge Amit Mehta that the government's accusations are unfounded.
Eddy Cue, an Apple vice president, arrives in court to testify in the trial against Google, on September 26, 2023 in Washington © CHIP SOMODEVILLA/Getty/AFP
It's the first time U.S. prosecutors have gone head-on with a big tech company since Microsoft was targeted more than two decades ago over the dominance of its Windows operating system.
The trial must determine whether Google owes the success of its search engine to its performance or anti-competitive practices.
The hearings have already revealed that Google pays $10 billion annually to Apple and other companies to ensure its status as the default search engine on phones and web browsers.
© 2023 AFP