Google denies Apple’s claims about users searching less on its devices

Google Search

A courtroom comment from Apple’s Eddy Cue has stirred tension between two of tech’s biggest players. During his testimony in Google’s ongoing antitrust trial, Cue revealed that April marked the first-ever decline in Safari search usage — a moment he linked to growing interest in AI-driven alternatives like ChatGPT. That single remark triggered an 8% dip in Google’s stock, as investors braced for a potential sea change in how users find information online.

But Google is pushing back. In a carefully worded blog post, the company contradicted Cue’s claim, stating that search engagement continues to grow — including on Apple devices. Google pointed to increasing query volumes across browsers, apps, voice interfaces, and tools like Google Lens. While the company didn’t directly name Safari, the implication was clear: Google sees no decline in overall user interest.

“We continue to see overall query growth in Search. That includes an increase in total queries coming from Apple’s devices and platforms. More generally, as we enhance Search with new features, people are seeing that Google Search is more useful for more of their queries — and they’re accessing it for new things and in new ways, whether from browsers or the Google app, using their voice or Google Lens,” said Google in a blog post.

The truth may lie somewhere in between. Cue’s comments seem focused specifically on Safari-based search, while Google’s broader data includes its standalone apps and voice interfaces on Apple platforms. The discrepancy reflects a larger shift: users may be diversifying how they access search, with AI tools now part of the mix.

Still, context matters. Cue made his remarks in a high-stakes antitrust trial where the central question is whether Google’s default search deal with Apple constitutes a monopoly. By casting Safari search as a waning channel, Apple may be arguing that Google’s dominance is less ironclad than it appears — and that competition is, in fact, emerging.