Today, Alphabet shares increased by 6% in premarket trading after the outcome of Google’s antitrust case, in which it was determined that the company will not be required to sell its Chrome browser or Android operating system.
The ruling, issued by District of Columbia judge Amit Mehta, was viewed as generally favorable for the technology giant.
In the decision, Mehta permitted Google to keep paying ‘distribution partners for preloading or placement of Google Search, Chrome, or GenAI products.’ This enables Google to maintain its $20 billion annual payments to Apple, which are made in exchange for the iPhone manufacturer setting Google Search as the default in Safari and Siri.
“After two complete trials, this court cannot find that Google’s market dominance is sufficiently attributable to its illegal conduct to justify divestiture,” Judge Mehta stated.
Although Google won the legal case, the company must implement several changes. It is prohibited from entering exclusive contracts for distributing Google Search, Chrome, Google Assistant, or Gemini. Additionally, Google cannot tie the licensing of its Play Store or other apps to the distribution or preinstallation of specific Google services, nor can it link revenue-sharing payments from one Google app to the placement of another app.
By CEO NA Editorial Staff
