A U.S. federal judge has cleared the way for Google to keep striking lucrative search deals, including its $20 billion agreement to remain the default option in Apple’s Safari browser. The decision came Tuesday in the remedies phase of U.S. v. Google, the landmark antitrust case targeting the company’s dominance in online search.
Executives from Apple and Mozilla had defended their own partnerships with Google during the trial. Mozilla’s chief financial officer even warned that Firefox’s future could be at risk without Google’s payments.
In his ruling, Judge Amit Mehta wrote that “Google will not be barred from making payments or offering other consideration to distribution partners for preloading or placement of Google Search, Chrome, or its GenAI products.” He added that cutting off those payments would cause “substantial, in some cases, crippling, downstream harms to distribution partners, related markets, and consumers.”
The court also declined to require Google to introduce choice screens across its products. While the Justice Department had pushed for tougher remedies, including a possible breakup of Chrome or Android, the judge rejected that option. Instead, Google will be required to share some search data with rivals to reduce its competitive edge.
Judge Mehta had previously ruled that Google holds monopoly power in search and search advertising. This week’s order sets the boundaries of how regulators can respond. Google, for its part, said it will appeal the ruling.