""Even when they lose, they win." That summarizes the response to yesterday's remedies ruling in Google's antitrust trial, with reactions varying from vehement criticism to resignation. In Justice Amit Mehta's remedies judgment, which followed the 2024 ruling that Google's search operations was a monopoly, Google avoided the worst-case scenario: a forced breakup. After all, the Justice Department's earlier stated goal was the divestiture of its Android OS and Chrome browser. See below for an abridged rundown of the rulings."
"Both the DOJ and Google claimed their side of the argument was recognized by the court, with the former claiming it won significant remedies The latter claimed it recognized how divesting Chrome and Android would have gone beyond the case's focus. "The court's ruling today recognizes the need for remedies that will pry open the market for general search services," read a DOJ statement. "The ruling also recognizes the need to prevent Google from using the same anticompetitive tactics for its GenAI products." Meanwhile, Google's statement underlined its argument that AI has changed the competitive landscape and further hinted at a pending appeal. "This underlines what we've been saying since this case was filed in 2020: Competition is intense... We have concerns about how these requirements will impact our users and their privacy, and we're reviewing the decision closely.""
Justice Amit Mehta's remedies judgment followed a 2024 finding that Google's search operations constituted a monopoly and declined to order a breakup. The court required Google to share limited search data (excluding ads) and to offer syndication services to help rival search providers improve scale and relevance. The remedies touched on auction transparency and restrictions on exclusivity while rejecting full divestiture of Android and Chrome. The DOJ emphasized opening the general search market and preventing anticompetitive tactics in GenAI, while Google warned that AI changes competition, raised privacy concerns, and signaled a likely appeal.
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