Google said it plans to appeal a ruling that found it guilty of anti-competitive practices related to its online search service.
In August 2024, a US federal court ruled that Google illegally maintained a monopoly in online search, marking a significant victory for antitrust regulators in their efforts to curb the power of BigTech firms.
Following the ruling, the US Department of Justice has proposed several measures, including forcing Google to divest from Chrome and a ban on exclusivity agreements with smartphone manufacturers for the default installation of the search engine.
It also calls for the Californian company to share the data used to produce search results on Chrome.
“We will wait for the Court’s opinion. And we still strongly believe the Court’s original decision was wrong, and look forward to our eventual appeal,” the tech giant said in a post on X.
The department’s proposal “reserves the right for the government to decide who gets Google users’ data. Not the Court,” Google added.
The company continued: “While we heard a lot about how the remedies would help various well-funded competitors (w/ repeated references to Bing), we heard very little about how all this helps consumers.”
Arguing that these measures would harm consumers and primarily benefit competitors rather than foster fair competition, Google has proposed limited measures, such as allowing phone manufacturers to pre-install the Google Play app store while excluding Chrome and its search engine.
In August, Judge Amit Mehta of the US District Court for the District of Columbia found that Google violated Section 2 of the Sherman Act, a key US antitrust law.
In his ruling, Judge Mehta stated: “After having carefully considered and weighed the witness testimony and evidence, the court reaches the following conclusion: Google is a monopolist, and it has acted as one to maintain its monopoly.”
During the proceedings, Judge Mehta also acknowledged that the emergence of AI products could potentially replace traditional search engines. “Ten years may seem like a short period, but in this space, a lot can change in weeks,” said Mehta.
The case, brought by the US Department of Justice and attorney generals from over three dozen states and territories, centred on Google’s practices in the search engine market.
Prosecutors argued that Google spent billions of dollars annually on agreements with device manufacturers and browser makers to ensure its search engine was the default option on smartphones and computers.
According to the ruling, Google paid $26.3 billion in 2021 alone to secure default positions on various platforms.
Judge Mehta noted that these agreements gave Google an anti-competitive advantage, making it financially unfeasible for rivals to compete for default status.
The judge’s final decision is expected by August 2025.
