The U.S. government and a majority of U.S. states will appeal the outcome of an antitrust trial against Alphabet’s Google, according to court papers.
A federal court judge in Washington in 2024 ruled Google has a monopoly in the online search business, however the toughest remedies were rejected.
Alphabet had seen its fortune grow following the judgement, with investors rewarding the company. A federal judge had pronounced a softer-than-feared verdict, declining to have the company broken up.
The DOJ had proposed stronger remedies, including that Alphabet-owned Google be forced to sell Chrome. Tech companies like Perplexity and Ecosia lined up with unsolicited bids. While the lawsuit was a legal setback, it was said to ultimately solidify Google’s market dominance.
READ: FTC to appeal Meta antitrust ruling after setbacks in Big Tech cases (
However, the DOJ seems to be unwilling to let go without a fight. While the DOJ and the state attorneys general did not provide details in court documents about their appeal, they are likely to focus on the judge’s decision not to make Google sell off its Chrome browser or end its lucrative arrangement with Apple to provide the default search engine on new devices.
Google is already appealing U.S. District Judge Amit Mehta’s ruling that it broke the law to stave off competition in online search and related advertising. Google has asked the judge to pause his order that would require the company to share data with rivals during the appeal process, which could last many months.
“As we have long said, the Court’s August 2024 ruling ignored the reality that people use Google because they want to, not because they’re forced to,” Google’s vice president for regulatory affairs Lee-Anne Mulholland had said.
READ: Judge rules Meta’s acquisitions don’t violate antitrust laws (
She pushed back against being forced to share search data and syndication services with rivals as she justified the request for a halt to implementing the orders. “These mandates would risk Americans’ privacy and discourage competitors from building their own products — ultimately stifling the innovation that keeps the U.S. at the forefront of global technology,” Mulholland said.
Google’s large investments in artificial intelligence has also come under scrutiny, according to the BBC. Last month, the EU opened an investigation into Google over its AI summaries which appear above search results.
The European Commission said it would probe whether Google used data from websites to provide the service and failed to offer appropriate compensation to publishers. Google said the investigation risked stifling innovation in a competitive market.