Finance Tab Added To Google Search

Alphabet, the parent of Google, said Tuesday (Nov. 28) that those searching on Google can filter results via a new finance tab.

According to news from Reuters, the new tab will work like its images and news tabs and will give users a lot of the same information found on Google Finance. Users will be able to access company specific news and detailed financials on companies. Google is getting rid of a search feature that lets users track their investments, however.

The move on the part of Google to add the finance tab comes as it’s been shaking up its search business. In the summer, CNBC.com, citing Wall Street firm Bernstein, reported that Google will pay Apple roughly $3 billion in 2017 to maintain its search position, up from $1 billion a mere three years ago.

What’s more, Bernstein said much of Google’s licensing fees make up Apple’s service business. “Court documents indicate that Google paid Apple $1B in 2014, and we estimate that total Google payments to Apple in FY 17 may approach $3B,” Bernstein Analyst A.M. Sacconaghi Jr. said, according to CNBC. “Given that Google payments are nearly all profit for Apple, Google alone may account for 5 percent of Apple’s total operating profits this year and may account for 25 percent of total company OP growth over the last two years.”

The analyst said Google could decide against paying Apple licensing fees if it thinks the search engine is popular enough that Apple won’t use another default search engine. Given that Apple’s iPhones account for around 50 percent of Google’s mobile search sales, it may not want to anger Apple in any form, noted the analyst. Even though Google dominates the search game in the U.S., the company is constantly rolling out new features and filters to keep it popular.