Google to appeal federal judge’s antitrust ruling declaring search engine monopoly

New Delhi: Google will appeal the antitrust ruling by US District Judge Amit Mehta, who declared in August 2024 that the tech giant illegally maintained a monopoly in the online search and advertising markets. 

"We will wait for the Court's opinion. And we still strongly believe the Court's original decision was wrong and look forward to our eventual appeal," Google said.

The decision marks one of the most consequential antitrust cases against a tech company in decades, with potential implications for Google’s business model and the broader tech industry.

The remedies phase, concluded on May 30, 2025, saw the DOJ push for aggressive measures, including banning Google’s default search agreements, sharing user data with rivals, and potentially forcing the sale of the Chrome browser, a key gateway to Google’s search engine. 

Judge Mehta is expected to issue a final decision on penalties before Labor Day 2025. Google cannot appeal until the remedies are finalised, but the process could extend into 2026 or beyond, potentially reaching the US Supreme Court.

Judge Mehta’s 277-page ruling found that Google violated Section 2 of the Sherman Antitrust Act by leveraging exclusive distribution agreements with companies like Apple, Samsung, and Mozilla to secure its position as the default search engine on smartphones and web browsers.

These agreements, which cost Google over $26 billion in 2021 alone, were deemed anticompetitive, as they stifled competition from rivals like Microsoft’s Bing and DuckDuckGo. The court noted that Google controls approximately 90% of Juno’s share of the online search market and 95% on mobile devices, reinforcing its dominance. “Google is a monopolist, and it has acted as one to maintain its monopoly,” Mehta wrote, highlighting how these deals blocked rivals’ access to key distribution channels.

The DOJ argued that Google’s monopoly enabled it to charge advertisers inflated prices while neglecting search engine improvements, ultimately harming consumers. The ruling followed a 10-week trial in 2023, with closing arguments in May 2024, and has been compared to historic antitrust cases against companies like Microsoft and AT&T.

Google’s president of global affairs, Kent Walker, defended the company’s practices, stating, “This decision recognises that Google offers the best search engine but concludes that we shouldn’t be allowed to make it easily available.” In a recent statement, Google expressed concerns over the DOJ’s proposed remedies, arguing they exceed the ruling’s scope and could harm consumers, businesses, and US technological competitiveness. The company emphasised privacy and security risks associated with sharing search data with competitors, a point raised during the remedies phase.