Judge orders Google to share search data with rivals in landmark monopoly ruling

"In a decision described as the most significant antitrust ruling of the internet age, Judge Amit P. Mehta of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia said Google must share parts of its search results with "qualified competitors" to help level the playing field. The ruling follows a years-long case brought by the Justice Department, which accused the company of abusing its power to maintain a near-90 per cent share of the search market."

"The government had pushed for far tougher remedies, including forcing Google to divest its Chrome web browser and banning the multibillion-dollar payments it makes to secure default search placement on smartphones and browsers such as Apple's Safari and Mozilla's Firefox. Those requests were denied, though Mehta did place restrictions on such agreements. In 2021, Google spent more than $26 billion on contracts to ensure its search engine was the default choice across devices."

A federal judge ordered Google to provide portions of its search data to qualified competitors and imposed limits on default-search agreements to reduce its dominance. The decision stems from a Justice Department case alleging Google abused its power to maintain nearly a 90% share of the search market. The government had sought stronger remedies, including divesting Chrome and banning default-placement payments, but the court declined structural breakup while placing some restrictions. Google will appeal, and the ruling marks the first remedies-stage outcome in a modern tech-platform monopoly case, with broader implications across digital advertising and platform deals.

Read at Business Matters