Google has been paying Apple a portion of search revenue generated by people using Google Chrome on iOS. From the report:

The UK's Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) is looking into Chrome on iOS and its role in a search revenue-sharing deal Google has with Apple.

It is worried that Google's payments to Apple discourage the iPhone maker from competing with Google. After all Apple does not have to do anything to get substantial payments and explains why Apple, though hugely profitable, has not invented the search engine or seriously invested in its Safari browser.

Having Google pay Apple "a significant share of revenue from Google Search traffic" passing through its own Chrome browser on iOS is difficult to explain. Apple does not provide any obvious value to people seeking to use Google Search within Google Chrome.

The only way to explain this is that Apple is being paid for the profits it would have made if it had competed with Google, without the cost and challenge of doing so.

Basically, Google paid billions of dollars to Apple and agreed to share its profits with Jobs Mob to eliminate the threat and fear of Apple as a competitor."

Google's deal with Apple apparently began at $1 billion per year, was  as high as $15 billion annually in 2021.