They sort of do answer the question, they aren't accepting money from Google for the right to be the default search engine. They are accepting a portion of search revenue for searches made through Google via Safari. This incentivises them to make Google the homepage even if it is not an explicit requirement of the deal.
Definitely a sneaky way to do it but it could be completely true.
The question could've been better phrased; something like "what is the total amount that Apple has accepted from Google for a traffic acquisition purpose?"
Definitely a sneaky way to do it but it could be completely true.