It was recently announced that Google won’t have to sell its Chrome browser, but it will have to change several business practices as per a federal judge’s ruling. This decision was a result of a legal battle that garnered mainstream attention a year ago, where the tech company was ruled by the same judge to be illegally maintaining a monopoly on internet search.
As a way to break this monopoly, the US Department of Justice (DOJ) proposed that the tech giant should sell Chrome. US District Judge Amit Mehta stated that the government had “overreached” in its request and determined that Google could keep the browser.
Mehta said that “Google will not be required to divest Chrome; nor will the court include a contingent divestiture of the Android operating system in the final judgement.” He then added that “Plaintiffs overreached in seeking forced divesture of these key assets, which Google did not use to effect any illegal restraints.”
Though this is good news for Google, overall, the company will not come away from this legal battle unscathed. Mehta ruled that the tech giant will no longer be permitted to strike exclusivity deals around the distribution of search, Google Assistant, Gemini or Chrome.
What this means is that, moving forward, Google can no longer require device manufacturers to preload its apps in order to get access to the Play Store. However, Google will be able to pay partners, such as Apple, to preload search and other apps into their products. In some manner this is more of a compromise, as ending these established arrangements could cause harm to distribution partners, related markets, and consumers.
This ruling is seen as a large victory overall, as many argue that an alternative ruling might have had an impact on “America’s global technological leadership”. However, Google is not totally satisfied, expressing some “concerns” about a few aspects of the ruling in a recent statement.
According to Engadget, the company previously planned to appeal Mehta’s original ruling but would first wait until a final verdict is reached. With Google having some reservations with said verdict, it is unsure if the tech giant will follow through on its word and ask for some reconsiderations.
(Source: Engadget)
