Google has been given a major reprieve – a US federal judge has stopped short of ordering Google to divest its Chrome browser or Android operating system, dealing a setback to government antitrust enforcers who had pressed for a structural breakup of the company’s business. Instead, Google now faces behavioral restrictions designed to curb its dominance in search and prevent similar practices from spreading into emerging AI markets.
The case, United States v. Google LLC, marks one of the biggest US antitrust proceedings since the Microsoft case of the late 1990s. The US Department of Justice, joined by several states, initially filed suit in 2020, accusing Google of illegally monopolizing the search and search advertising markets. At that time, it was argued that Google maintained its dominance in the market (about 95% of mobile search queries in the US by 2020) by paying more than $20 billion annually to companies such as Apple and Samsung to ensure Google was preloaded as the default search engine. Judge Amit P. Mehta had previously ruled that Google did engage in illegal monopoly maintenance. The government requested drastic structural remedies, including the divestiture of Chrome or the Android operating system, to break up Google’s platform power.
Judge Mehta, however, determined in his remedies order that such a divestiture would be “disproportionate.” He wrote that the Department of Justice had overreached by seeking remedies not directly tied to the specific unlawful conduct proven at trial. Instead, the ruling bars Google from entering or maintaining exclusive contracts that tie the distribution of core services such as Search, Chrome, Google Assistant, or its Gemini AI app to other agreements. The tech firm must also share certain search index and user interaction data with “qualified competitors” to level the playing field. Furthermore, Google may no longer require device manufacturers to preload its apps as a condition for licensing the Google Play store or bundle revenue-sharing deals across multiple products. These restrictions aim to prevent Google from using its dominance in existing digital markets to unfairly shape future competition, especially as generative AI tools reshape how people access and process information.
By blocking exclusive contracts and forcing limited data-sharing, the order seeks to open avenues for smaller search competitors and AI entrants, though critics, including DuckDuckGo’s CEO, argue that the measures fall short of enforcing real change in Google’s market behavior. Many device makers may still preload Google’s services because of consumer demand, so the practical effect of the order will depend on market dynamics and potential modifications to existing partnerships.
The development also brings temporary stability for Google and Apple, as their default search deal may continue but under tighter scrutiny. The ruling is also likely to set a precedent for how US courts approach antitrust remedies against dominant digital platforms, prioritizing targeted restraints over forced breakups.
“Today’s decision recognizes how much the industry has changed through the advent of AI, which is giving people so many more ways to find information. This underlines what we’ve been saying since this case was filed in 2020: Competition is intense and people can easily choose the services they want. That’s why we disagree so strongly with the Court’s initial decision in August 2024 on liability. Now the Court has imposed limits on how we distribute Google services, and will require us to share Search data with rivals. We have concerns about how these requirements will impact our users and their privacy, and we’re reviewing the decision closely. The Court did recognize that divesting Chrome and Android would have gone beyond the case’s focus on search distribution, and would have harmed consumers and our partners,” Google announced in a statement.
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