"The verdict has felt anti-climactic for media and ad execs who had hoped for sweeping change, especially given the court had already ruled Google's search dominance a monopoly last August. Publishing execs hoped the remedies would separate Google's search engine crawler from its AI experiments - such as AI Overviews and AI Mode - or at least force them to provide more data on how those products are impacting publisher clickthroughs from search. That would've given publishers more control over where their content is showing up, and what it's used for."
"The ad industry reacted to the remedies with a mix of vehement criticism and resignation. For publishers, there is equally little immediate relief: Google's search engine remains deeply intertwined with its AI products and referral traffic continues to slide, leaving licensing deals and direct platform negotiations with other AI companies as the only real levers on the table."
Department of Justice behavioral remedies for Google, revealed on Sept. 2, produced limited change despite a prior court finding that Google's search dominance is a monopoly. Publishers sought separation of Google's search crawler from AI experiments like AI Overviews and AI Mode or greater data disclosure on how those products affect clickthroughs. The remedies largely maintain the existing integration between search and AI, and publisher referral traffic continues to decline. Licensing agreements and direct negotiations with other AI companies remain the primary levers available to publishers. Industry response combined criticism and resignation, with some executives calling the outcome a big win for Google.
Read at Digiday
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