The government had asked U.S. District Judge Amit Mehta to order Google to sell the browser, alongside numerous other remedies, after Mehta found last August that the company had an illegal monopoly over online search.
Mehta ultimately opted against a breakup, calling it a “poor fit for this case” and suggesting the DOJ had “overreached” in his lengthy 230-page opinion.
But he still imposed some restraints on Google, barring the company from entering into exclusive agreements prioritizing its products and requiring it to share some data and provide syndication services to competitors.
Here’s what to know about the decision:
Google secures favorable ruling after tough year
The ruling is largely favorable for Google after a particularly tough year, during which the search giant lost two antitrust cases and grappled with the prospect of multiple divestitures.
Shortly after Mehta ruled last August that Google had an illegal monopoly over search, the company headed to trial to fend off another DOJ lawsuit, accusing it of monopolizing advertising technology.
In April, U.S. District Judge Leonie Brinkema found that Google had illegally acquired and maintained a monopoly over two separate markets in the ad tech space, marking another blow to the tech giant’s empire.
The DOJ has sought a breakup in this second case as well, pushing for a forced divestiture of two of Google’s advertising products. As a result, Tuesday’s decision would appear to be a welcome reprieve.
“On the whole, compared to what could have happened yesterday, they had a good day,” said William Kovacic, a George Washington University law professor and former chair of the Federal Trade Commission.
However, he added, “Maybe it’s a day for beer instead of champagne. There’s a number of rivers for them to cross yet.”
But Google has some reservations about the decision
Google touted the court’s decision Tuesday to opt against a breakup, but it’s not entirely content with the ruling.
The company has long vowed to appeal the underlying monopoly finding in the search case once the remedies phase is completed, and its plans appear unchanged.
Google separately took issue with the penalties ordered by the judge.
While Google will still be allowed to pay firms to place or preload its search engine, browser or AI chatbot, Mehta barred the company from entering into exclusive agreements to prioritize these products.
He also required the tech giant to make certain search index and user interaction data and search syndication services available to competitors.
“We have concerns about how these requirements will impact our users and their privacy, and we’re reviewing the decision closely,” Lee-Anne Mulholland, Google’s vice president of regulatory affairs, said in a statement.
DOJ claims wins, weighs future options
The Justice Department, for its part, is taking the win. Gail Slater, the head of the DOJ’s antitrust division, called the decision a “major win for the American people,” even as she said the agency is considering its next steps.
“While the court didn’t order every form of relief the United States sought, it ordered far more significant remedies than Google believed appropriate,” Slater wrote in a post on X.
Check out a full report at TheHill.com tomorrow.
