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Turn that around - would you, please, explain how this is extortion.

It sounds like both parties benefit from the arrangement, and they've renewed the agreement numerous times. Monopolistic or anti-competitive, I could see that, but I'm not sure I follow your point about it being extortion.

Because Google wants it? They don’t have to be the default search…

"What the market will bear..."

Huh? We've gone from being mad at Google for bribing Apple to being mad at Apple for charging too much?

> Huh? We've gone from being mad at Google for bribing Apple to being mad at Apple for charging too much?

Isn't accepting a bribe also as bad as offering it? Apple is a gate keeper of a huge segment. There can only be one default. You either come to an agreement with them or lose.

If the general consensus is that Google is is abusing monopoly in this case, what should the resolution be?

- Google isn't allowed to pay Apple, but other search engines are.

- Nobody is allowed to pay Apple, and Apple should pick one without getting anything in return.

- Apple is forced to offer a choice on startup. But which search engines would be at the top of this list? And how should Apple decide that?

The first option seems unfair to Google (in a lawsuit about "fairness"). The second and third a loss for Apple more than Google.