Judge lets Google keep Chrome, orders multiple antitrust penalties

U.S. District Judge Amit Mehta ruled Tuesday that Google does not have to sell its Chrome search engine, but the tech giant must face a number of other penalties to its monopoly. Mehta ruled in August 2024 that Google violated antitrust laws with its monopolies on search services and advertisements after the Department of Justice sued the tech giant.

The federal judge issued a number of penalties against Google on Tuesday to restore competition to the marketplace. Google may not enter exclusive contracts for the distribution of Google Search, Chrome, Google Assistant, and the Gemini app, according to the Department of Justice. The tech giant must also grant competitors access to certain search indexes and user-interaction data, and offer competitors search and search text ads syndication services.

What kind of impact will this have? Google for years has accounted for about 90% of all internet search queries in the United States, according to the DOJ’s release. These remedies will foster healthy competition and open up the market for general search services which Google’s monopoly has kept frozen in place for over a decade, the DOJ said. Mehta’s ruling also recognizes the need to stop Google from using similar anticompetitive tactics on its GenAI products

During the 15-day trial to decide remedies in May, federal prosecutors argued that Google should have to sell Chrome, while Google argued that such a requirement would overextend the government’s reach. Google CEO Sundar Pichai testified that selling Chrome would be like the government forcing the company to sell off core intellectual property.

Mehta’s remedies ruling noted the difference between using anticompetitive practices and operating with a superior product or better business acumen. After two trials, the court can’t rule that Google’s marketplace dominance is only attributable to using illegal conduct and therefore can’t justify divestiture, Mehta wrote. Google’s proposed split would be messy and very risky, he added.

Google's Vice President of Regulatory Affairs Lee-Anne Mulholland released a Tuesday statement reacting to the ruling, citing the company’s concerns about how the penalties will impact users and their privacy. This decision recognizes how much AI has changed the industry by giving people more ways to find information, she wrote. Mulholland held that the company disagreed with the court’s 2024 monopoly ruling and insisted that people can easily determine which services they wish to use.

Rep. Pramila Jayapal, D-Wash., released a Wednesday statement describing the penalties against Google as merely a slap on the wrist. Google will continue rigging the game in their favor and harming customers, she alleged.

Dig deeper: Read Lauren Canterberry’s report in WORLD Magazine for more background on Google’s monopoly case with Chrome.