What Google plans to do about online search antitrust decision: Explained

The story so far: On May 31, Google said it will appeal an antitrust decision aimed at making competition in the online search market fair.

- 

Google's reaction to the decision comes a day after U.S. Judge Amit Mehta heard closing arguments in a trial that sought to curtail the tech giant's illegal monopoly in online search. While the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) proposed stringent remedies to bring about fair competition, Google is opposed to these measures and proposed its own tentative remedies. After considering the proposed remedies from both sides, Judge Mehta is expected to deliver his decision. These court remedies could potentially unravel Google’s position as a dominant player in the online search business.

What is the DOJ vs Google antitrust case?

The DOJ hit Google with multiple legal challenges in recent years, alleging violations of antitrust laws, and the monopolisation of multiple markets the search giant operates in. In particular, the regulator scrutinised Google's revenue sharing agreements with partners like Apple over worries that the search giant's rivals’ services are being locked out of the market and that customers are seeing reduced choices for search engines on their devices. In August 2024, however, Judge Mehta handed the DOJ a victory when he ruled that Google was an illegal monopolist with monopoly power in the general search services and general search text advertising markets. The Google Search Remedies trial that followed this year saw the DOJ presenting a series of far-reaching proposals to cut down Google's monopoly power, while Google presented its own list of far milder proposals.

What is the DOU’s case against Google?