Google Wins Chrome Battle But Must Share Data, Judge Rules

Google doesn’t have to sell it’s Chrome web browser but must share information with competitors, a US federal judge has ordered.

This stems from a five year long legal battle between Google and U.S, over Google’s dominance as the default search engine on Android, Chrome, and Apple devices.

The US Department of Justice had demanded that Google divest Chrome, but District Judge Amit Mehta said such a remedy was “a poor fit” for the case.

Judge Mehta said he approached the remedies with “humility,” noting that artificial intelligence has reshaped the competitive landscape since the case began, and added that predicting the future is “not exactly a judge’s forte.”

Google has denied any wrongdoing, insisting its dominance comes from offering a superior product. To avoid harsher measures, the company had proposed reducing revenue-sharing deals with Apple instead of selling Chrome or Android.

The trial revealed Google paid $26 billion in 2021 to firms like Apple and Mozilla to promote its products. The ruling now bars Google from exclusive deals for Search, Chrome, Assistant, or Gemini, though it can still pay for default placement, giving competitors greater room to be pre-loaded.

Google said it is reviewing the decision and warned that data sharing could affect user privacy. The company plans to appeal, likely taking the case to the Supreme Court, where experts say the chosen remedies have a strong chance of being upheld.