Google gets to keep Chrome, but must share data with rivals

U.S. District Judge Amit Mehta, who ruled last year that Google has an illegal monopoly over search engines and advertising, has tentatively ruled that Google won’t have to sell its Chrome browser, but also ordered Google to share data with its rivals to enable a level playing field in online search.

Mehta also identified remedies, which include restricting Google from entering into exclusive deals for the distribution of Search, Chrome, Google Assistant, or Gemini to other apps. Google will also be required to share specific search index and user-interaction data with “qualified competitors” to prevent monopolistic behaviour, but not advertising-related data. Mehta has ordered Google and the Department of Justice to “meet and confer”,—which involves parties in a legal dispute meeting and resolving their disputes without involving the court, before a final judgment is passed.

Last August, Mehta ruled that Google holds an illegal monopoly in internet search. The U.S. Department of Justice had then proposed remedies, including forcing Google to sell the Chrome browser and license its search data to competitors. Having previously called Google a “monopolist,” Judge Mehta is expected to issue his decision on these proposed measures in the coming days, and hence, the active interest and offers from AI startups. 

This also led to unsolicited acquisition offers, most notably, Aravind Srinivas-led AI startup Perplexity formally making a bid to purchase the Chrome browser from Google for a whopping $34.5 billion in August. In his judgment, Mehta also granted Google permission to continue paying Apple to keep its search engine as the default on its devices, as denying Apple the payments would result in “fewer products and less product innovation from Apple.”

The judgment marks the culmination of a five-year legal battle, which began when the U.S. Department of Justice sued Google in 2020. However, while Mehta held Google guilty of using monopolistic practices, he also said that the Department of Justice’s proposals were far-reaching. “Plaintiffs overreached in seeking forced divestiture of these key assets, which Google did not use to effect any illegal restraints,” reads Mehta’s judgment.

The U.S. Department of Justice’s lawsuit against the government is also the first antitrust case challenging alleged monopolistic practices since it went after Microsoft in the 1990s.