Google Dodges Breakup In Landmark Antitrust Ruling Over Its Search Engine
A United States federal judge on Tuesday barred Google from striking exclusive deals to promote its search engine to resolve the court’s finding that it monopolized the market, but rejected the most sweeping remedies sought by the US Department of Justice that would have broken up the giant.
In a sprawling and landmark 226-page remedies ruling, US District Court Judge Amit P. Mehta ordered that Google be “barred from entering or maintaining any exclusive contract relating to the distribution” of its titular search engine, its Chrome web browser and other products.
Mehta also ordered Google to make available some of the data it uses to power its search engine to “Qualified Competitors,” saying the step would “deny Google the fruits of its exclusionary acts and promote competition.”
However, in a major blow for the Justice Department and state attorneys general who filed the lawsuit against the company, Mehta ruled that Google will not have to divest Chrome, nor would he impose a conditional divestiture of its Android operating system sought by US officials.
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