A federal judge ruled Tuesday against the proposal of the United States government that Google is expected to sell its Chrome web browser to restore competition in online research, which prevented the technology giant from having to turn one of its largest companies.
In the decision of more than 200 pages, the American district judge Amit Mehta said that forcing Google to disintegrate Chrome had gone too far and that the remedy was “a bad adjustment for this case”.
Since the web browser is based on technology company systems, Google’s Chrome rupture would also be “incredibly disorderly and very risky”, wrote the judge.
The decision is a partial victory for Google, below the greater changes that the government has proposed. But this could still affect other technological companies facing a meticulous examination of their domination.
The actions of Google’s parent company, Alphabet, increased by more than 7% early after working hours after the announcement.
Under the decision, Google would always be required to make other modifications. The company would be forbidden to conclude exclusive contracts linked to the distribution of Google Search, Chrome, Google Assistant and the Gemini application, the AI assistant of the technological company.
It would also be necessary to offer certain rivals research data and services to help them compete with the research giant as they develop their own technology, according to the decision.
“We have concerns about how these requirements will have an impact on our users and their privacy, and we look closely at the decision,” said Lee-Anne Mulholland, vice-president of Google regulatory affairs.
Mehta recognized that the rise of artificial intelligence chatbots that can generate answers to questions could become “game changers” in the future, but they have not yet replaced search engines.
“Google is still the dominant company on the relevant product markets. No existing rival has snatched Google’s market share. And no new competitor has entered the market,” said Mehta in the decision.
Google, however, has not been prevented from paying or offering “other considerations” to partners such as Apple if the companies have placed its search engine, Chrome or its generative AI products by default on browsers and mobile devices.
Dan Ives, analyst at Wedbush Securities, described this decision as “monster victory” for Google and Apple. “We are now seeing a green light for a larger Gemini AI partnership between Apple and Google with this DOJ case now in the rear view mirror,” he wrote in a note on Tuesday.
In another victory for Google, the judge also ruled that the company was not required to modify its policies to give more choices to websites of websites in the way the research giant uses their content because it does not respect any relationship with the illegal acts of Google “.
New publishers fear that the rise in AI, which can quickly summarize the items, will result in a drop in traffic on websites.
“Google obliges content creators to give their content to be used in its IA offers in order to stay in Google Search,” said Danielle Coffey, president and chief executive officer of News / Media Alliance, in a statement. “This is an without gain scenario that will continue to harm publishers who invest in high -quality journalistic and creative content.” (La Times is a member of the News / Media Alliance).
Some of the companies trying to take Google have said that they did not think that the changes would open the door to more competitors. Gabriel Weinberg, founder and chief executive officer of DuckDuckGo, a web browser focused on privacy, urged the congress to act.
“Google will always be allowed to continue using its monopoly to retain competitors, including in AI research,” he said in a statement. “As a result, consumers will continue to suffer.”
The judgment will last six years and will take effect 60 days at the entrance, said the decision.
The highly watched decision has occurred after a three -week hearing ended in May, in which lawyers for the United States government and Google argued on how to repair the monopoly of the research giant.
Last year, Mehta ruled that Google had illegally maintained a monopoly in online research, indicating exclusive agreements that the company concluded with Apple, Samsung, AT&T and others to be the default search engine on web browsers and mobile devices. Google, based in Mountain View, California, did not agree with the decision.
The Ministry of Justice and several states have proposed several ways to repair Google’s monopoly, in particular by forcing the company to sell Chrome, a web browser describes as the “gateway to the Internet”.
Google said that the government’s proposal had been too far away and would harm consumers and technological leadership in America. Instead, the company suggested Closer solutions This would make its contracts with wireless operators and manufacturers of mobile devices less restrictive.
Tuesday’s decision was the same appeal from the court on the measure that it was to go to repair the monopoly.
The antitrust affair stems from a trial that the Ministry of Justice and several states filed against Google in 2020, under the Trump administration, alleging that it operated illegally as a monopoly.
Since then, online research has evolved, with more people turning to short videos and AI chatbots such as Chatgpt to find information or summarize research results.
Google tried to run in advance while Openai, Meta and others argue to dominate the AI. Google displays summaries generated by AI of search results, published an “AI mode” in research and has a virtual assistant called Gemini.
IA companies, including Openai in San Francisco, had expressed their interest in buying Google Chrome before the judge’s decision. In August, Perplexity of the start of the AI made a daring offer to buy Google Chrome for $ 34.5 billion. (Los Angeles Times is associated with perplexity to generate summaries of ideas expressed in opinion pieces.)
In the second quarter, Google’s revenues reached $ 96.43 billion, up approximately 14% compared to the same period last year. The company’s net income jumped 19% to $ 28.19 billion.
Google was such a dominant actor in search of so many years that he has become a higher target for regulators, the courts and rivals that seek to force more competition.
Even with growing chatgpt competition and other AI robots, the Chrome browser maintains a global market share of more than 60%, according to some analysts. According to criticism, this could always give Google an unfair advantage.
We fear that he will lock the competition. Google is currently paying billions of Apple dollars per year to be the default search engine on its Safari browser. The Ministry of Justice has tried to prevent Google from receiving preferential treatment on devices using the alphabet Android mobile operating system.
Alphabet is not the only giant in fire technology. The courts also evaluated if Apple, Meta and others used their size to stifle the competition.
Although the concerns were raised that Alphabet could have to run its Google search engine activities, its actions worked well. Before Tuesday’s decision, alphabet shares increased by more than 25% in the previous period of 12 months. The reference NASDAQ composite index, heavy with technology, has climbed approximately 20% during the same period.
