Google having hard time lessening reliance on Apple Safari, Information says

A judge is expected to rule at some time in the next few months on the Department of Justice’s antitrust lawsuit against Google (GOOGL) over its dominance of internet search and one of the biggest risks the company faces is the possibility that the judge will end the agreement making Google the default search engine on Apple’s (AAPL) Safari app for iPhones, noted The Information’s Jon Victor. While Google has been trying for several years to protect itself against that possibility and made headway – lifting the percentage of iPhone searches done outside Safari to a “low 30s” percentage from 25% five years ago – that progress stalled in the second half of last year, according to The Information’s report.