Alphabet shares popped 8% in extending trading as investors celebrated what they viewed as minimal consequences from a historic defeat last year in the landmark antitrust case, CNBC reported.
Last year, Google was found to hold an illegal monopoly in its core market of internet search.
U.S. District Judge Amit Mehta ruled against the most severe consequences that were proposed by the Department of Justice, including the forced sale of Google’s Chrome browser, which provides data that helps its advertising business deliver targeted ads.
“Google will not be required to divest Chrome; nor will the court include a contingent divestiture of the Android operating system in the financial judgement,” the decision stated.“Plaintiffs overreached in seeking forced divesture of these key assets, which Google did not use to effect any illegal restraints.”
In his decision on Tuesday, Mehta said the the company can make payments to preload products, but it cannot have exclusive contracts that condition payments or licensing.
The DOJ had asked Google to stop the practice of “compelled syndication,” which refers to the practice of making certain deals with companies to ensure its search engine remains the default choice in browsers and smartphones.
TechCrunch reported: Google will not be forced to break up but a federal judge has tentatively ordered other changes to the tech giant’s business practices to keep it from further anticompetitive behavior.
U.S. District Court Judge Amit P. Mehta outlined remedies on Tuesday that would bar Google from entering or maintaining exclusive deals that tie the distribution of Search, Chrome, Google Assistant, or Gemini to other apps or revenue or arrangements. For example, Google wouldn’t be able to condition Play Store licensing on the distribution of certain apps, or tie revenue-share payments to keeping certain apps.
Google will also have to share certain search index and user-interaction data with “qualified competitors” to prevent exclusionary behavior, and it must offer search and search ad syndication services to competitors at standard rates so they can deliver quality results building their own technology.
Metha has not yet issued a final judgement. Instead, he ordered Google and the Department of Justice to “meet and confer” and submit a revised final judgement by September 10 that aligns with his opinion.
Politico reported: A federal judge refused to break up Google for monopolizing the online search and ad markets, and instead imposed lesser restrictions to curb the power of the $2 trillion company.
In a closely watched antitrust trial pitting the U.S. government against one of the world’s largest tech firms, District Judge Amit Mehta on Tuesday rejected the Justice Department’s request to force Google to spin off its Chrome browser and Android products.
Google must now share some of its search data with competitors, and is prohibited from inking deals that make its products — including its artificial intelligence – the default tools on mobile devices.