"The U.S. Department of Justice, joined by nearly every U.S. state, sued Google in 2020, alleging in a court filing that the company's search monopoly caused significant, long-running harm to competition. Critics alleged the monopoly allowed the company to degrade search results. The department and states asked Mehta to issue remedies that would strike deep into Google's vastly lucrative business selling digital ads in connection with its search engine, a primary driver of profits for its parent company Alphabet that surpassed $100 billion last year."
"The plaintiffs asked Mehta to make Google sell Chrome, and, if the judge's remedies failed to eliminate Google's monopoly, unload Android later. Mehta shot down both proposals. Mehta did approve the plaintiffs' request to prohibit Google from exclusive contracts for distribution of Google Search, Chrome, its Google Assistant help-bot, and its AI chatbot Gemini. However, the judge allowed Google to pay companies to place its Search, Chrome and AI products on devices, including by pre-loading Google products when devices are first sold."
Google will not be forced to sell Chrome or Android after the federal ruling. The judge found Google's search monopoly has endured for more than a decade with little meaningful market entry to challenge it. The U.S. Department of Justice and nearly every state sued in 2020 alleging the monopoly caused long-running harm to competition and degraded search results. Remedies prohibit exclusive distribution contracts for Google Search, Chrome, Google Assistant and Gemini, while still allowing payments and pre-loading on devices. Google must provide certain search and user data to competitors at minimal cost. The remedies will last six years and may be adjusted later.
Read at www.mercurynews.com
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