Google won't have to sell Chrome in antitrust win

Google won't be forced to spin off its popular Chrome browser but must share data with competitors, a federal judge ruled on Tuesday.

Why it matters: Not having to sell Chrome is a major win for Google in the landmark antitrust case the Justice Department brought against the company back in 2020.

• Google can no longer make contracts exclusive but can still pay other companies to feature or default to Google products, so the loss on other companies' revenues as a result is undetermined.

Driving the news: Federal District Judge Amit Mehta issued the ruling after finding that Google violated antitrust law to obtain a monopoly in the online search market last year.

• Google can still pay partners for placement and preloading of Google apps, despite exclusivity being banned.

What they're saying: "Plaintiffs overreached in seeking forced divesture of these key assets, which Google did not use to effect any illegal restraints," the ruling states.

• "Today's remedy order agreed with the need to restore competition to the long-monopolized search market, and we are now weighing our options and thinking through whether the ordered relief goes far enough in serving that goal," DOJ antitrust chief Gail Slater posted on X.
• "The court gave a leg up to the United States in the global AI race, preventing Google from slowing down AI innovation with the same anticompetitive playbook it used to freeze search competition," Slater wrote.

The big picture: The judge had the opportunity to transform the tech ecosystem, forcing a rebalancing of market power in web search at a time when AI is fundamentally changing how people look things up online. That didn't happen.

• Spinning off Chrome would have had major ramifications for Google's business both in search and AI, and interested buyers were lining up.

The other side: "We have concerns about how these requirements will impact our users and their privacy, and we're reviewing the decision closely," Google's vice president of regulatory affairs, Lee-Anne Mulholland, said in a statement.

Context: Last August, Mehta ruled that Google is a monopolist and has acted as one to maintain its monopoly status.

• The case was originally filed in President Trump's first administration.

What's next: Google's planned appeal could lead to the case reaching the Supreme Court.

Editor's note: This story has been updated and clarified throughout.