U.S. District Choose Amit Mehta dominated on the cures for Google being declared a monopoly. In brief, Google will not be damaged up (will maintain Chrome, Android and Advertisements), it must share search information and it’s barred from making unique search offers.
Many have been anticipating the cures to be lots stricter after a variety of forwards and backwards on this monopoly ruling however it appears Google acquired away simple with this one.
“Google won’t be required to divest Chrome; nor will the courtroom embrace a contingent divestiture of the Android working system within the ultimate judgment,” the choice acknowledged. “Plaintiffs overreached in looking for pressured divesture of those key property, which Google didn’t use to impact any unlawful restraints.”
“There are robust causes to not jolt the system and to permit market forces to do the work,” Mehta wrote.
“Google won’t be barred from making funds or providing different consideration to distribution companions for preloading or placement of Google Search, Chrome, or its GenAI merchandise. Reducing off funds from Google nearly definitely will impose substantial—in some instances, crippling—downstream harms to distribution companions, associated markets, and shoppers, which counsels in opposition to a broad cost ban.”
However Google must share its search information. Mehta dominated Google must make accessible sure search index information and person interplay information, although “not advertisements information”. Mehta wrote, “Google must make accessible to Certified Rivals sure search index and user-interaction information, although not advertisements information, as such sharing will deny Google the fruits of its exclusionary acts and promote competitors. The courtroom, nonetheless, has narrowed the datasets Google will likely be required to share to tailor the treatment to its anticompetitive conduct.”
The Choose added, “Google shall supply Certified Rivals search and search textual content advertisements syndication companies to allow these companies to ship high-quality search outcomes and advertisements to compete with Google whereas they develop their very own search applied sciences and capability. Such syndication, nonetheless, shall happen largely on strange business phrases which are in keeping with Google’s present syndication companies. “
Right here is the total write up from Choose Mehta as a PDF doc. Learn pages 3 to five or so for the abstract. There may be a variety of protection of this on Techmeme.
Right here is a number of the early response:
Sundar and staff be like ….. pic.twitter.com/c5YN5tzOBN
— Gagan Ghotra (@gaganghotra_) September 2, 2025
An announcement from our CEO on the US v Google cures:
“We don’t imagine the cures ordered by the courtroom will pressure the adjustments essential to adequately handle Google’s unlawful habits. Google will nonetheless be allowed to proceed to make use of its monopoly to carry again opponents,…
— DuckDuckGo (@DuckDuckGo) September 2, 2025
lol at those that have been anticipating the choose would break google and make the web a greater place
— Mayank Parmar (@mayank_jee) September 2, 2025
Google to maintain Chrome. That is big. https://t.co/8gNgujLW9b
— Glenn Gabe (@glenngabe) September 2, 2025
And the Google fan membership too. https://t.co/cGcJm97nAU
— Dan (@Okayy_Dan) September 2, 2025
In rejecting Google critics’ fantastical cures, his ruling at present cited the MSFT precedent 9 completely different occasions: Treatments should be “tailor-made to suit the improper creating the event for the treatment.” pic.twitter.com/aMYgHu9RFE
— Adam Kovacevich (@adamkovac) September 2, 2025
On Google, @SenAmyKlobuchar tells me she and her workers are nonetheless trying on the cures resolution that can enable the corporate to maintain proudly owning Chrome however says “it’s a signal of why we’d like laws that might make all of it clear.”
— Ben Brody (@BenBrodyDC) September 2, 2025
I suppose Perplexity isn’t going to personal Chrome, in spite of everything. pic.twitter.com/9kOjiT8xG6
— Eric Seufert (@eric_seufert) September 2, 2025
Excellent news for giant tech, the regulator’s bark is larger than the chunk.$GOOG up 8% on the ruling that it might maintain Chrome. $AAPL up 3% on the very fact it might maintain the Google default search deal (15% of Apple’s working revenue).
Apple additionally will get a pleasant win as a result of the ruling forces…— Gene Munster (@munster_gene) September 2, 2025
The one upside right here is that Trump could not become involved, as a result of there’s nothing for him to commerce away. Google acquired what it needed.
— Matt Stoller (@matthewstoller) September 2, 2025
Now I’m nowhere something near a lawyer, however it feels insane to my tiny mind that one thing could possibly be dominated a monopoly, that means cures are to comply with, after which nothing of actual affect really comes of the proposed options. https://t.co/RqfcvY9Qes
— julia alexander (@loudmouthjulia) September 2, 2025
Wow – courtroom guidelines Google should share information with opponents. Seems to be like they’re going to be pressured to share:
1) Fundamental Search Index: URLs/first seen/final crawled/spam rating/and many others.
2) “Glue”: makes use of click on information to construct SERPs
3) RankEmbed: deep studying to know semantic that meansBing,… pic.twitter.com/6BtkyNSqPE
— Cyrus search engine marketing (@CyrusShepard) September 2, 2025
Discussion board dialogue at X.
Replace: Google posted its assertion expressing concern over sharing search information. Google wrote:
Earlier at present a U.S. courtroom overseeing the Division of Justice’s lawsuit over how we distribute Search issued a choice on subsequent steps.
At this time’s resolution acknowledges how a lot the trade has modified by means of the appearance of AI, which is giving folks so many extra methods to search out info. This underlines what we’ve been saying since this case was filed in 2020: Competitors is intense and other people can simply select the companies they need. That’s why we disagree so strongly with the Courtroom’s preliminary resolution in August 2024 on legal responsibility.
Now the Courtroom has imposed limits on how we distribute Google companies, and would require us to share Search information with rivals. We have now issues about how these necessities will affect our customers and their privateness, and we’re reviewing the choice carefully. The Courtroom did acknowledge that divesting Chrome and Android would have gone past the case’s concentrate on search distribution, and would have harmed shoppers and our companions.
As all the time, we’re persevering with to concentrate on what issues — constructing modern merchandise that folks select and love.