It escaped from the obligation to sell Chrome, the free internet browser, as the US government demanded, after the request was rejected by an American judge who, however, forced her to share with her competitors in order to have a balance.
Alphabet, the Google parent company, records a wide rise (+6.59%) on the New York Stock Exchange after the historic court ruling. The NASDAQ technology index was also positively affected (+0.86%), as concerns about the trade war temporarily passed in a second shot.
In August 2024, US justice judged Google guilty of illegal monopoly on internet searches, thanks to exclusive distribution agreements, worth a lot of billions of dollars a year, which it had with smartphone manufacturing companies, such as Apple and Samsung. However, the sentence was not determined then: The court now forced her to share the data with her competitors to improve their services, but not to deprive the Chrome, its iconic “leafy”, as the Ministry of Justice required.
This decision is considered one of the most important of the last 20 years in the fight against monopoly business practices. It could have decisive consequences for the future of the technological giant.
“Today’s decision recognizes how much the sector has changed by arriving, which offers people much more to find information,” said Le-If Malhuland, Google’s vice president on regulatory issues, citing the “intense competition” today. “Competition is intense and people can easily choose the services they want,” he said.
The company, however, has some ‘concerns’ about its obligation to share the data and limit the distribution of services, fearing it will affect users and their privacy.
The judge’s rationale
In his rationale, Judge Amita Meetta insisted on the changes that have been made in online searches from 2020 onwards, when Google’s research began, with the emergence of artificial intelligence by companies such as Openai. “These companies are already in a better position to compete with Google, both economically and technologically as it was no traditional search company for decades,” he commented.
The US government was asking Judge Amita Meetta to order Google to sell Chrome, share some data with its competitors, not pay Apple and other companies from now on to install its own search engine on their devices and limit its investment to other artificial intelligence companies. For the judge, however, the sale of Chrome would be a “extremely complex and risky” venture and ruled that the ministry exceeded its rights when it demanded it.
“It’s a bit like a win for Google”, at least in the short term, “but possibly a Pyrrhus victory”, which will force her to adjust her strategy, “commented Carl Tobias, a law professor at the University of Richmond.
The court also ruled that it is not desirable to ban the agreements between Google and the smartphone manufacturing companies, citing the consequences that would have “for distributors, markets and consumers”. Although the judge banned Google from concluding “exclusivity” agreements, the company is not prohibited from compensating the platforms it works with, such as Apple and Mozilla.
A Technical Committee will oversee the implementation of “corrective” measures, which will apply 60 days after the final announcement of the final decision, which will take place until September 10, after consultations with the parties concerned.
Faced with another court decision
Google is, however, facing another court ruling, this time in Virginia, where a federal court is expected to issue its ruling on its advertising activities: a few months ago, another judge ruled that the company was maintaining a illegal monopoly that stifled competition.
These cases are part of a broader effort by the US government – both under the Democrats and today, chaired by Republican Donald Trump – to impose rules on technology giants. Today, five antitrust cases are under way against large technology companies. During Trump’s first presidency, a case had begun against Meta (Facebook), which was continued by Joe Biden’s government, which began new investigations, this time against Apple and Amazon, and also turned to Google on the issue of ads.
