"A judge opened the door to upending Google's dominance as the default search on your phone. On Friday, a federal judge ordered Google to limit all default search and AI app contracts to one year, a setback for the long-term deals that have helped cement the company's dominance on billions of devices. The ruling, detailed in a December 2025 judgment, requires Alphabet's Google to renegotiate every default-placement agreement annually, including lucrative deals with Apple's iPhone and manufacturers like Samsung."
"Judge Amit Mehta of the US District Court of the District of Columbia said the "hard-and-fast termination requirement after one year" is necessary to enforce antitrust relief after his landmark 2024 finding that Google illegally monopolized online search and search advertising. The decision aims to open the door for rivals, especially fast-moving generative AI companies, to compete for default spots that have historically been held for years at a time."
A federal judge ordered Google to limit all default search and AI app contracts to one year, requiring annual renegotiation of default-placement agreements. The requirement applies to deals with Apple, Samsung and other device makers while allowing Google to continue paying for default placement. Judge Amit Mehta said a hard-and-fast termination after one year is necessary to enforce antitrust relief following a 2024 finding that Google illegally monopolized online search and search advertising. The measure aims to enable rivals, particularly generative AI companies, to compete for default spots and follows an order to share some search-ranking data with competitors.
Read at Business Insider
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