Judge puts a one-year limit on Google's contracts for default search placement

"A federal judge has expanded on the remedies decided for the Department of Justice's antitrust case against Google, ruling in favor of putting a one-year limit on the contracts that make Google's search and AI services the default on devices, reports. Judge Amit Mehta's ruling on Friday means Google will have to renegotiate these contacts every year, which would create a fairer playing field for its competitors."

"This all follows the ruling last fall that Google illegally maintained an internet search monopoly through actions including paying companies such as Apple to make its search engine the default on their devices and making exclusive deals around the distribution of services such as Search, Chrome and Gemini. Mehta's September ruling put an end to these exclusive agreements and stipulates that Google will have to share some of its search data with rivals to "narrow the scale gap" its actions have created."

A federal judge ordered a one-year limit on contracts that make Google's search and AI services the default on devices. Google must renegotiate those contracts annually to create a fairer playing field for competitors. The ruling expands remedies in the Department of Justice antitrust case against Google after a September decision that declined to require Google to sell Chrome. A prior finding determined Google illegally maintained a search monopoly by paying companies like Apple and making exclusive distribution deals. The court required Google to end exclusive agreements and share some search data with rivals to narrow the scale gap.

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