U.S. Justice Department didn't get its way: Google doesn't have to sell Chrome, but will share user search data with competitors
On Tuesday, federal judge Amit Mehta ruled in the biggest antitrust case in decades.
According to his verdict, Google will not have to sell its Chrome browser or Android operating system, which the U.S. Department of Justice had demanded. However, the company will be obliged to give competitors access to data on users' search queries.
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This decision was a blow to the antitrust authorities, which sought tougher measures, up to the separation of Google's businesses.
The court recognised that the US corporation had illegally monopolised the online search market, but limited itself to a ban on exclusive distribution agreements, under which Google will not be able to pay partners to make its search engine the only one available to users of default devices.
Google will also be required to share online search data with competitors - such as Microsoft, DuckDuckGo, OpenAI and Perplexity.
However, Google will still be able to pay partners to host its default search engine, which is especially important for Apple, which for many years has received around $20bn annually for such integration.
The court ruling could change the rules of the game in the digital market, paving the way for freer access to user data and reducing the influence of monopolies.
Source: Bloomberg
