The complex and long-running antitrust case against Google and its search engine recently held its final arguments, and the tech giant is already planning to appeal. In a statement published on X, Google confirmed that it would appeal, explaining that the proposed rulings went too far and would “harm consumers.”
“We will await the Court’s opinion,” Google wrote. “And we remain firmly convinced that the Court’s original decision was wrong and look forward to our possible appeal.”
To challenge Google’s dominance in the search engine market, the US Department of Justice filed a lawsuit against the tech giant back in 2020. The monumental antitrust case has been steadily evolving over the years, with the DOJ proposing remedies such as opening up Google’s search technology to licensing, banning agreements with device manufacturers such as Apple and Samsung to make Google the default search engine, and forcing the sale of the Chrome browser and the Chromium open source project.
According to Google, the DOJ’s proposed actions would have exposed consumers to “very real privacy concerns,” left the government in charge of user data, and helped “well-funded competitors.” Instead, Google offered to loosen its agreements to allow other search engines to run on devices and to create an oversight committee to monitor the company’s activities.
After that, the federal judge presiding over the case, Amit Mehta of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, ruled in August 2024 that Google had an illegal monopoly in the search engine market. The judge agreed with the Department of Justice that Google’s ownership of the Chrome browser gives it an unfair advantage because it can use its search engine advantage to drive more traffic and generate more revenue for the company.
The final outcome of this antitrust case could have serious implications for the future of artificial intelligence, which is closely related to the search engine market. According to Google, this decision may allow other companies that have AI chatbots to take a dominant position in the search engine market. During the trial, Nick Turley, the head of OpenAI, testified that the company would be interested in buying Chrome if Google was forced to sell it.
