Case 1:22-cv-00712-APM Document 19 Filed 08/12/22 Page 1 of 73
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`UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
`FOR THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA
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`
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`Case No. 1:22-cv-00712
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`AMENDED COMPLAINT
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`DEMAND FOR JURY TRIAL
`
`FOTOBOM MEDIA, INC.
`27702 Crown Valley Pkwy, D4 #283
`Ladera Ranch, CA 92694,
`
`
`Plaintiff,
`
`v.
`
`GOOGLE LLC
`1600 Amphitheatre Parkway
`Mountain View, CA 94043,
`
`
`Defendant.
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`
`
`INTRODUCTION
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`1.
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`In October 2020, the U.S. Department of Justice filed a Section 2 case against
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`Google alleging that Google has taken steps to thwart competition from “apps that link to general
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`search engines, such as smart keyboards” because such apps are a competitive threat to Google’s
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`general search monopoly. United States v. Google LLC, 20-cv-03010, ECF No. 1, ¶ 44 (D.D.C.
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`Oct. 20, 2020). Fotobom Media, Inc. distributes a “smart keyboard” app. Fotobom is a direct
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`victim of the conduct described in DOJ’s complaint.
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`2.
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`Fotobom developed and began distributing its smart keyboard app for mobile
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`devices in 2015. Now called “Keyboard+,” Fotobom’s smart keyboard offers more functionality
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`than traditional mobile keyboards that consumers use to type on their phones.
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`3.
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`Among other features, Keyboard+ brings the power of a search engine directly to
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`the user’s fingertips. Keyboard+ offers users its own search results: it directs users to content
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`(for example, links to buy movie tickets) precisely at the time that content will be useful to them
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`(for example, when texting a friend to arrange a time to go see a movie) based on keywords in
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`the user’s typing. Keyboard+ is also a “search access point.” A mobile user can run a search in
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`the keyboard using a general search engine without needing to leave an app or open a browser.
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`Keyboard+ displays its own links alongside the search engine’s results, so the user can compare
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`results and pick the most relevant content. The result for users is maximal choice and efficiency.
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`4.
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`Fotobom also partners with carriers and phone manufacturers to incorporate this
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`search functionality into messaging apps — including a six-year long ongoing relationship with
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`Verizon to incorporate search functionality into the Verizon Messages app, which is installed on
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`more than 100 million phones in the United States. When incorporated into messaging apps,
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`Fotobom’s search software displays search results to users based on the content of the messages
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`being sent and received, and regardless of the specific mobile keyboard that is being used. The
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`ability to provide search results to users based on the content of their messages makes mobile
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`messaging an important search access point.
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`5.
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`Fotobom generates revenue much like a search provider: by offering content
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`providers the opportunity to bid on “keywords” to display their content to users. Content
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`providers then pay an additional fee if a mobile user clicks through the content (such as a
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`suggested website or user app) that Keyboard+ displays.
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`6.
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`Defendant Google LLC took notice of Fotobom’s innovative product. At
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`Google’s invitation, Fotobom met with Google multiple times between 2016 and 2018. Soon
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`after the first meeting in 2016, Google launched its own smart keyboard, Gboard. Later, in 2018,
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`Google met with Fotobom again and suggested it was looking to acquire a company in the
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`keyboard and messaging space. Google told Fotobom that “it’s not a matter of if we work
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`together, it’s a matter of when,” and that, accordingly, Fotobom should share with Google as
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`much as possible about its smart keyboard and company strategy. A few months after its
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`meeting with Fotobom, Google acquired another keyboard app created by a company named
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`Tenor, which allows users to search a “GIF” library directly from the keyboard.
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`7.
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`Following Google’s decision not to partner with or acquire Fotobom, Google
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`began to interfere with Fotobom’s distribution of Keyboard+.
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`8.
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`For example, Fotobom reached an agreement in principle with América Móvil —
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`one of the world’s largest wireless carriers — to preload Keyboard+ as the default keyboard app
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`on millions of Android devices. América Móvil told Fotobom that it wanted to preload
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`Keyboard+ as the default keyboard app “on as many phones as possible.” América Móvil and
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`Fotobom expended significant time and effort on this relationship. But when Google discovered
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`that América Móvil was planning to preload Fotobom’s keyboard, Google threatened América
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`Móvil that it would be violating its agreement to preload Google’s own smart keyboard app —
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`Gboard — as the default on América Móvil devices, and that Google would penalize América
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`Móvil by withholding potentially several hundred million dollars in payments. Following that
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`threat, América Móvil told Fotobom that it could not preload Keyboard+ as the default keyboard
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`app on any of its Android devices.
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`9.
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`Google has similarly threatened other carriers and original equipment
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`manufacturers (“OEMs”) that wanted to preload Keyboard+ on their devices.
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`10.
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`In its complaint against Google, DOJ alleges that “[a]s innovation has increased
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`the number of search access points on mobile devices — including smart keyboards and voice
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`assistants — Google has expanded its [agreements with carriers and manufacturers] to close off
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`these avenues to search rivals.” United States v. Google LLC, 20-cv-03010, ECF No. 1, ¶ 80.
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`“Google . . . uses its agreements to ensure that new search access points are not available to
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`competitors. For example, Google developed a smart keyboard — a mobile app that can be used
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`as an alternative for the standard-issued keyboards on smart phones — with the recognition that
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`such keyboards might be ‘the next big search access point.’ Google relies on its preinstallation
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`and default restrictions in its revenue sharing agreements as a ‘strategic defense’ against rival
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`keyboards that might provide a ‘[b]ridge’ to rival general search engines.” Id. at ¶ 151; see also
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`Colorado v. Google, 1:20-cv-03715, ECF No. 3, ¶¶ 103 et seq. (D.D.C. Dec. 17, 2020) (Section
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`2 case filed by 35 states based in part on Google’s contracts that restrict independent distribution
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`of search access points); European Press Release IP/18/4581, Antitrust: Commission Fines
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`Google (July 18, 2018) (fining Google $5 billion for paying carriers and manufacturers not to
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`preinstall rival search apps), https://ec.europa.eu/commission/presscorner/detail/en/IP_18_4581.
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`11.
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`Google has similarly paid mobile carriers like AT&T, Verizon, and T-Mobile
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`more than $100 million to preload Google Messages as the default messaging app on their
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`customers’ mobile phones. Google Messages uses the Rich Communications Services (“RCS”)
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`messaging protocol that is controlled by Google and that Google is attempting to make the
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`standard messaging protocol for all mobile devices. Beginning in 2022, Google Messages will
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`be the default messenger app on each carrier’s Android devices, which will result in the end of
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`popular independent messaging apps like Verizon Messages. Verizon has already begun to
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`discontinue support for Verizon Messages despite the app’s popularity.
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`12.
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`On July 7, 2021, Attorneys General from 36 states and the District of Columbia
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`filed a separate suit against Google alleging that Google uses its control over Android app
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`distribution to charge a 30 percent supra-competitive commission for paid apps. See Utah et al.
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`v. Google LLC, 3:21-cv-05227-JSC, ECF No. 1 (N.D. Cal. July 7, 2021). The States and District
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`allege that Google extracts this supra-competitive commission, in part, by using its “considerable
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`leverage over mobile device manufacturers and Android app developers.” Id. ¶ 7. Google uses
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`Revenue Sharing Agreements (“RSAs”) with carriers and manufacturers as a “carrot” to restrict
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`them from fostering competition in Android app distribution. See id. ¶ 20. Google uses other
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`agreements as “sticks” to “require Android device manufacturers to preload Google Play Store
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`on the default home screen, render it undeletable from the device, and ensure that no other
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`preloaded app store has a more prominent placement than the Google Play Store.” Id. Google
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`also “has taken the extraordinary step of attempting to buy off Samsung . . . by, among other
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`things, offering incentives for Samsung to turn the Galaxy store into a mere ‘white label’ for the
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`Google Play Store — meaning that Samsung would use the backend services of the Google Play
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`Store, including Google Play Billing, while retaining its Samsung Galaxy Store branding.” Id.
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`¶ 21. The case is related to a private multidistrict litigation currently proceeding before Judge
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`Donato. See In re Google Play Store Antitrust Litigation, 3:21-md-02981-JD (N.D. Cal).
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`13.
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`Google’s conduct interferes with independent efforts to compete in two ways.
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`First, Google enforces tying arrangements. The Android mobile operating system does not
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`contain many of the features or apps necessary for manufacturers to offer a commercially viable
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`Android device. Instead, Google offers “Google Mobile Services,” which is a bundle of
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`Google’s most dominant apps, including Google’s app store (Google Play), the Google Search
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`app, Google Chrome, Google Maps, and YouTube. Google Mobile Services also includes the
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`Application Programming Interfaces (“APIs”) that are necessary for apps to function properly on
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`a device. A carrier or OEM can preload Google’s dominant apps and APIs only if they preload
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`other Google-controlled search access points, including Gboard. Google enforces this tie
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`through the Google Mobile Services licensing agreements (sometimes called “Mobile
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`Application Distribution Agreements”) and restrictive certification requirements. Effectively,
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`OEMs and carriers must ensure that all default-search-access-points preloaded on a device direct
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`search traffic to Google. As Google has stated, it uses “compatibility as a club to make [OEMs]
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`do things [Google] want[s].” OEMs and carriers have no choice but to accede to the tie because,
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`without the Google Play Store, Google’s Search app, Chrome, or Google Maps, their mobile
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`devices would not be commercially viable.
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`14.
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`Second, Google has entered into exclusionary distribution agreements that require
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`distributors, including mobile manufacturers and carriers, to set Google as the default search
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`engine for all search access points installed on a device and to preload as defaults Google’s own
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`search access points, like Chrome, Gboard, and Google Messages. Google’s agreements prevent
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`carriers and manufacturers from preinstalling smart keyboards (and other apps with search-
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`related features) produced by rivals such as Fotobom. Google pays for exclusivity by giving
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`carriers and manufacturers a percentage of its general search monopoly revenues, which amounts
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`to hundreds of millions of dollars each year.
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`15.
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`Google’s preventing of OEMs and carriers from doing business with search rivals
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`and search access points like Keyboard+ ties up the most effective distribution channel for rival
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`apps: being the default, or even just being preloaded, on the user’s device. Because the vast
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`majority of users will not alter the default settings, users will continue to use the apps that come
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`preloaded on their devices. That is why Google pays Apple $12 billion annually to be the default
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`search engine for the Safari browser and for Apple not to use or preinstall rival search products.
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`16.
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`Prohibited from being able to preload its keyboard as the default on mobile
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`devices, Fotobom must instead convince users to download and install its smart keyboard — a
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`multi-step process that few users will undertake. The fact that Google allows Fotobom’s
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`keyboard to be installed through the Google Play Store (a process that requires Google’s review
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`and approval of the app), just not preloaded or made the default, confirms that there is no
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`procompetitive justification for Google’s restrictions. Fotobom does not distribute its keyboard
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`app through “sideloading” — a process through which the user downloads the app directly
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`without using an app store and which Google claims is insecure. If Google will permit
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`Keyboard+ to be used on Android devices, there is no legitimate reason to prohibit Keyboard+
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`from being preloaded as the default keyboard. Rather, Google wants to cripple Fotobom and
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`other rival search access points so they cannot threaten Google’s search monopoly, and so
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`Google can dominate the market for Android mobile keyboard apps.
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`17.
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`Google’s practices are unlawful under Sections 1 and 2 of the Sherman Act.
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`Fotobom seeks to recover the damages it has suffered because of Google’s antitrust violations, as
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`well as equitable relief to enjoin Google from enforcing its anticompetitive agreements.
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`PARTIES
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`18.
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`Plaintiff Fotobom Media, Inc. is a Delaware corporation with its corporate
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`headquarters and principal place of business in San Francisco, California.
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`19.
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`Defendant Google LLC is a limited liability company organized and existing
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`under the laws of the State of Delaware, with its principal place of business in Mountain View,
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`California. Google is owned by Alphabet Inc., a publicly traded company incorporated and
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`existing under the laws of Delaware and headquartered in Mountain View, California
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`JURISDICTION AND VENUE
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`20.
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`This action arises under Sections 1 and 2 of the Sherman Act, 15 U.S.C. §§ 1 and
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`2, and Sections 4 and 16 of the Clayton Act, 15 U.S.C. §§ 15 and 26, and California state law.
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`21.
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`This Court has jurisdiction over the federal claims pursuant to 28 U.S.C. §§ 1331
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`and 1337 and Section 4 of the Clayton Act, 15 U.S.C. § 15. This Court has supplemental
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`jurisdiction over the state law claims pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1367, because those claims are so
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`closely related to the federal claims that they form part of the same case or controversy.
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`22.
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`The Court has personal jurisdiction over Google because Google has caused
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`“tortious injury in the District of Columbia by an act or omission outside the District of
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`Columbia,” and because Google “regularly does or solicits business,” engages in “other
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`persistent course[s] of conduct,” and “derives substantial revenue from goods used or consumed,
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`or services rendered, in the District of Columbia.” D.C. Code § 13-423(a)(4).
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`23.
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`Venue is proper in this District under Section 4 of the Clayton Act, 15 U.S.C.
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`§ 15, and 28 U.S.C. § 1391, because Google transacts business and is found within this District.
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`FACTUAL ALLEGATIONS
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`I.
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`FOTOBOM’S SMART KEYBOARD
`A.
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`Fotobom’s Software and Related Services
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`24.
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`Fotobom is a small, innovative company that develops mobile apps and software
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`that can reach users within their favorite messengers and most frequently used applications.
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`Fotobom provides mobile users with suggestions of relevant content, websites, apps, and
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`services that are useful to them — for example, Fotobom might suggest a link to purchase movie
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`tickets when the user’s actions indicate he or she is trying to plan a movie night.
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`25.
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`One of Fotobom’s core products is a keyboard app, Keyboard+. Mobile devices
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`are preloaded with at least one keyboard that allows a user to type on the phone. Fotobom has
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`reimagined the standard mobile keyboard to offer enhanced features such as predictive text,
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`shareable GIFs/Stickers, customized dictionaries, one-handed swipe typing, autocorrect, and
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`more. Fotobom enriches a user’s mobile experience by providing faster, easier access to the
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`content and features that people want — all delivered to the user at a contextually relevant time.
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`26.
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`Fotobom first launched its keyboard in August 2015. Fotobom’s initial offering
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`focused on providing engaging media content that users could share in a messenger app, such as
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`videos, stickers, and GIFs from its content partners, such as college sports teams. For example,
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`Fotobom worked with a number of colleges to enable their fans to quickly and easily share sports
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`highlight clips in their preferred messaging app via Fotobom’s keyboard.
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`27.
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`Since 2015, Fotobom has upgraded its keyboard to provide additional targeted
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`user content — including links to relevant media, apps, information, and websites — based on
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`keywords typed by the user and other contextual information. Fotobom has partnered with
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`companies across various industries, including sports, movies, television, and music, to provide
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`access to content that people enjoy seeing and sharing with one another. Most importantly, a
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`user can access these features without leaving the app they are using. Fotobom’s keyboard can
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`generate content whenever a user calls up their keyboard: such as while playing games,
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`searching the web, messaging friends, or watching videos.
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`28.
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`Fotobom’s keyboard directs users to relevant content in several ways. Keyboard+
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`can provide users links to media and websites based on keywords they are typing. Clicking on
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`the provided link sends the user directly to that webpage, bypassing the need for the consumer to
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`separately search for the information through a browser like Google Chrome or a search engine
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`like Google Search. Similarly, a user exchanging text messages about biking somewhere in San
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`Francisco may receive a link to a Yelp page regarding bike rentals in San Francisco without the
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`need to switch to a different app or go through a general search engine.
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`29.
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`Fotobom’s keyboard can also redirect users to other types of content, including
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`apps they already have installed on their devices. For example, if Uber’s ride-sharing app is
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`Case 1:22-cv-00712-APM Document 19 Filed 08/12/22 Page 10 of 73
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`installed on a user’s phone, when a user texts about needing to call an Uber, Keyboard+ will
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`present an icon that will lead the user to the Uber app as shown below.
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`Figure 1: How Fotobom Can Direct Users to the Uber App
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`The software in Keyboard+ generates suggested content in much the same way as
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`30.
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`a search engine generates search results. Fotobom’s software analyzes what the user is typing in
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`the keyboard app (or a messaging app) and uses server side technology to suggest appropriate
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`content and actions to the user. The suggested content may include links to websites to purchase
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`movie tickets, make restaurant reservations, etc. Keyboard+ also has the capability to open this
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`content on Fotobom’s custom web browser.
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`31.
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`Beyond providing mobile users targeted content, Keyboard+ permits users to
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`browse the internet directly from the keyboard. Specifically, Fotobom powers a web browser
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`that can appear at the top of a user’s keyboard at the touch of a button. The web browser enables
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`users to access information, make purchases, watch videos, quickly share links with friends, and
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`more. The browser is useful because it allows users to interact with any website or general
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`search engine without having to leave the app they are using.
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`32.
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`Because Fotobom’s keyboard appears anywhere a standard mobile keyboard
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`appears, Keyboard+ has the capability to reach the user in any app he or she is using. As a
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`result, Fotobom’s keyboard provides its partners an opportunity to redirect traffic to their
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`websites or apps not just from within the user’s messaging app, but also from within other apps,
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`including the web browser. As depicted in Figure 2 below, using Keyboard+ in a web browser
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`or Google’s Search app allows Fotobom to deliver suggested search results to the user. The user
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`can then compare Fotobom’s suggested results alongside the results of the search engine. Users
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`have the choice of engaging with Fotobom’s suggested search result or simply ignoring it. The
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`search results provided by Keyboard+ compete with the search results provided by Google.
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`Figure 2: Step-by-Step How Fotobom Can Redirect Google Search Traffic
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`33.
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`The software that powers Keyboard+ also can be integrated into other apps, like a
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`messenger app. Through integrations with other apps, Fotobom’s software currently reaches
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`millions of daily active users. This past year alone, Fotobom drove over 10 billion sticker and
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`GIF impressions for various content providers and also provided users with search results based
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`on their messaging activity.
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`34.
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`Fotobom is able to generate revenue from Keyboard+ and its software in a variety
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`of ways, including through driving app downloads, app engagement, impressions (that is, a
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`charge each time suggested website or app is shown to a user), and click-throughs to websites,
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`apps, products, and services. Fotobom’s revenue model is similar to the revenue model of a
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`search engine.
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`35.
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`For example, the software in Fotobom’s keyboard can target customers who need
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`ridesharing services who are texting a friend and using keywords like “taxi.” Fotobom can then
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`suggest the Uber app to a user and receive a commission for driving Uber app installs, or rides
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`placed on the app. In addition, content providers pay for placement around keywords in
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`Keyboard+ that are relevant to their brand. A sports broadcaster like ESPN may bid against
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`other sports content providers, like NBC and Hulu, to pair a link to its app with a keyword like
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`“football.” A keyword can also connect a user to a website: the keyword “movie” might surface
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`a Fandango link for movie tickets at a local venue based on a customer’s geolocation. Fandango
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`would pay Fotobom for driving customers to their website. And, if that customer also purchases
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`a ticket, Fandango would pay an additional fee for the successful transaction. Finally, Fotobom
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`can promote a search engine of choice for all search inquiries that it drives through Keyboard+.
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`36.
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`Fotobom updates its targeted content suggestions in real-time from its servers in
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`San Francisco. It periodically updates featured keywords so that users receive timely and
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`targeted content that will be useful to them.
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`37.
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`There are two versions of Keyboard+: one compatible with Android and another
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`“light” version that is compatible with “Android Go” devices that Fotobom developed for
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`Android manufacturers. Android Go is a stripped-down version of Android designed to run on
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`low-end and budget smartphones with 2 GB of RAM or less. Fotobom also offers a keyboard
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`app called “YourMoji” that is also compatible with iOS and allows users to create and share
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`personalized emoji and GIFs.
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`B.
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`38.
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`Fotobom’s Keyboard App Competitors
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`Several other companies offer “smart” keyboards — i.e., an app that can be used
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`as an alternative for the standard-issue keyboard on smart phones. A number of smart keyboard
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`apps offer users options for customization (e.g., fonts, colors, personalized themes), and many
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`offer features like emoji, GIFs, autocorrect, predictive texting, and swipe typing. Examples
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`include Gboard, GO Keyboard, SwiftKey, Tenor’s GIF Keyboard, PayKey, GIPHY, Kika
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`keyboard, Ginger Keyboard, Grammarly Keyboard, Chrooma, and ai.type.
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`39.
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`Google acquired Tenor’s GIF Keyboard for an undisclosed sum in 2018, which,
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`on information and belief, was more than $200 million.
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`40.
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`41.
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`Facebook acquired GIPHY in 2020 for approximately $400 million.
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`Some smart keyboards also offer, in addition to features such as GIFs and
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`predictive texting, the added functionality of being able to connect users to a general search
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`engine or other third-party content, like apps and websites. Such keyboards include Fotobom’s
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`Keyboard+ and Fleksy’s keyboard.
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`42.
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`Until recently, Microsoft’s SwiftKey had a search bar built into the keyboard.
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`Microsoft acquired SwiftKey in 2016 for $250 million and the feature allowed users to run
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`searches on Bing and share the search results instantly with a link or a screenshot.
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`43.
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`In July 2021, Microsoft announced that it had removed search from SwiftKey,
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`which prompted user confusion and complaints. Around the same time Microsoft removed its
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`search toolbar, Microsoft started using Google’s Tenor as its GIF provider.
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`44.
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`In April 2022, Microsoft deleted the search feature from older versions of
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`SwiftKey. This prompted more complaints from consumers who used older versions of the app
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`because they considered the search bar an important feature. Deleting features from older
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`versions of apps that have already been deployed is an unusual step that suggests Google had
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`pressured Microsoft to do so. Ordinarily, software companies merely remove features from
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`future versions and cease supporting the older app versions, which over time causes those
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`features to not be used. Forceful deletion of deployed features is a larger undertaking.
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`45.
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`Google also has its own keyboard app, “Gboard,” which it launched in 2016.
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`Gboard currently offers glide typing, voice, and multilingual typing, Google translate,
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`handwriting, emoji search, and GIFs from its Tenor acquisition.
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`46.
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`Previously, Gboard also offered a popular search feature that integrated Google
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`Search into the keyboard itself — much like Keyboard+. Indeed, when Google first launched
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`Gboard, Google touted the keyboard as providing fast access to search. In a video posted to
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`YouTube advertising Gboard, Google noted that many users must flip back-and-forth between a
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`messaging app and a search engine to find information and then paste that information back into
`
`the messaging app. Google’s solution: “So we had a thought. What if you could search right
`
`from your keyboard?”1 Using a dedicated button on the keyboard, users could open a search
`
`field with three suggested queries offered. Users could then search the web with information
`
`
`1 Youtube, Gboard: now available for Android, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hj_
`91ntoi50&t=59s.
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`14
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`Case 1:22-cv-00712-APM Document 19 Filed 08/12/22 Page 15 of 73
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`
`
`presented as a carousel of cards and immediately share/paste results into their current
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`conversation. Around April 2020, Google removed this search feature from its keyboard on
`
`Android devices.
`
`47.
`
`Gboard users complained about this loss in useful functionality,2 but Google has
`
`not reinstated the app’s search functionality for Android devices. However, Gboard’s search
`
`functionality is still live for its iOS counterpart, and Google promotes Gboard on the Apple Store
`
`as “offering nearby stores/restaurants, videos/images, weather forecast, news, and sport scores.”
`
`C.
`
`48.
`
`Integration in Messaging Apps
`
`As described above, Fotobom’s Keyboard+ software can be integrated into other
`
`apps, like a messenger app. Fotobom has integrated into some of the most popular messaging
`
`apps in the U.S., enabling users to search for suggested apps, websites, and stickers/GIFs based
`
`on keywords in their typing. Among others, Fotobom’s software has been integrated into
`
`Verizon Messages which, through 2021, was preloaded as the default messaging app on
`
`Verizon’s Android devices.
`
`49.
`
`After removing search functionality from Gboard, Google announced a similar
`
`approach: it has integrated search functionality into its Android messenger app, “Messages.” On
`
`its website, Google promotes that Messages users have “Google at [their] fingertips,” with
`
`Google providing links to suggested content based on keywords in their typing. According to
`
`Google’s support page, “Messages can show you suggestions to get more info from the Google
`
`Assistant about movies, restaurants, and more.”
`
`
`2 See, e.g., Abner Li, Gboard beta removes built-in Google Search for some, 9to5Google (June
`24, 2020), https://9to5google.com/2020/06/24/Gboard-removes-google-search/ (including user
`comments such as: “This was literally the main feature of Gboard. Some people at Google
`really need to get fired.”).
`
`15
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`Case 1:22-cv-00712-APM Document 19 Filed 08/12/22 Page 16 of 73
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`
`
`50.
`
`Over the past 15 years, Google has introduced more than a dozen messaging
`
`services spanning text, voice, and video calling. But none has been popular with consumers. For
`
`example, Google’s messaging apps Hangouts and Allo had limited usage, largely because Allo
`
`was not preloaded on any Android devices and Hangouts was preloaded only on a limited
`
`number of devices. Google ultimately discontinued these apps but it took many features from
`
`Allo and incorporated them into its Messages app.
`
`51.
`
`To ensure consumers use Messages, Google has entered into agreements with the
`
`largest U.S. carriers, Verizon, T-Mobile, and AT&T, which require these carriers to get rid of
`
`their own default messaging apps and preload Google Messages (formerly, Android Messages)
`
`as the default instead.3
`
`52.
`
`The carriers’ messaging apps have significant user bases. Verizon Messages, for
`
`example, has over 100 million installs and is one of the top used Android apps. According to the
`
`app analytics firm SimilarWeb, in March 2021, Verizon Messages was ranked as the 13th most
`
`used Android app in the U.S. Put into perspective, this means that Verizon’s messenger app had
`
`more active engagement than WhatsApp (ranked 15), Twitter (ranked 27), Netflix, and Spotify
`
`(ranked 16) amongst Android users in the U.S. Google recently began paying Verizon as much
`
`as, or even more than, $13 million per month to remove Verizon Messages as their default
`
`messenger app and replace it with Google Messages. Verizon Messages presently remains one
`
`of the top 25 Android apps in the U.S., but without the ability to be preloaded as the default
`
`messenger app, its user base has already begun to decline.
`
`
`3 See, e.g., Dieter Bohn, Verizon is also switching to Android Messages as default for RCS, The
`Verge (July 20, 2021), theverge.com/2021/7/20/22584443/verizon-android-messages-rcs.
`
`16
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`Case 1:22-cv-00712-APM Document 19 Filed 08/12/22 Page 17 of 73
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`
`
`53.
`
`Apple also had a feature in iMessage that would underline various keywords, such
`
`as the names of musicians, restaurants, in an iMessage conversation. A user could tap on one of
`
`these keywords and pull up a page of information related to that keyword (i.e. it displayed
`
`Apple’s search results for that keyword). This page linked to various Apple services/apps —
`
`Apple Maps, Safari, iTunes, and a list of Apple’s suggestions for related websites. But this
`
`feature abruptly disappeared in 2019.
`
`II.
`
`THE RELEVANT MARKETS
`A.
`
`General Search Services
`1.
`
`General Search Services in the United States Is a Relevant Market
`
`54.
`
`In the early 1990s, the rapidly expanding number of internet sites created the need
`
`for an innovative way to search and index those sites. The solution was the emergence of so-
`
`called “search engines” that utilize different methods of gathering, organizing, and presenting
`
`information about different internet sites.
`
`55.
`
`Today, consumers use search engines to explore the internet for answers to a wide
`
`range of queries. General search services are unique because they offer consumers the
`
`convenience of a “one-stop shop” to access an extremely large and diverse volume of
`
`information across the internet — with Google Search being the prime example. Consumers use
`
`search engines to perform several types of searches, including naviga