Judge: Google can keep Chrome, must share search data with “qualified competitors”

Google has avoided the worst-case scenario in the pivotal search antitrust case brought by the US Department of Justice. More than a year ago, the Department of Justice (DOJ) secured a major victory when Google was found to have violated the Sherman Antitrust Act. The remedy phase took place earlier this year, with the DOJ calling for Google to divest the market-leading Chrome browser, release data to competitors, and end many of its search distribution deals.

The government is getting almost none of that. DC District Court Judge Amit Mehta has ruled that Google doesn't have to give up the Chrome browser to mitigate its illegal monopoly in online search. The court will only require a handful of modest data and behavioral remedies, forcing Google to release some search data to competitors and limit its ability to make exclusive distribution deals.

Chrome remains with Google

This case drew many comparisons to the decades-old antitrust case against Microsoft, which nearly saw the company split in two. The company narrowly avoided that fate, and it seems Google will as well—the DOJ came up short on the so-called structural remedies. While there will be some changes to search distribution, the court didn't believe that a breakup was fair in this situation.

The government contended that Google's dominance in Chrome was key to its search lock-in. Multiple experts testified in the trial about the impact of defaults—most people don't change settings and will simply use whatever the search engine is included with their browser. Google claimed people use its search engine because it's the best, and besides, no other company could hope to operate Chrome and Chromium like it does.

Other tech firms began drooling over the prospect of owning Chrome almost immediately. Perplexity even made an unsolicited offer of $34.5 billion for the browser, a sum that probably vastly undervalues the asset. Perplexity and the others can keep their money because there's essentially zero chance Google entertains any offers going forward.