Technology

Art

Judge Mehta Declines to Ban Google's Default Search Payments Despite Monopoly Ruling

Judge Amit Mehta's September 2025 remedies opinion in the U.S. v. Google search case found that Google illegally maintained its search monopoly through multi-billion-dollar default placement payments to Apple, Samsung, Mozilla, and others. However, despite identifying these payments as the core anticompetitive conduct, Judge Mehta declined to ban them, leaving a key remedy unaddressed.

Authors:Eugene Kimmelman1h ago1 min readenInsight

technology politics legal antitrust

Read on hks.harvard.edu

Key quotes

At the heart of that monopoly were Google's multi-billion-dollar payments to distributors—Apple, Samsung, Mozilla, and others—to lock in Google Search as the default on nearly every mobile device and across much of the desktop browser market.

Yet despite identifying these payments as the central anticompetitive conduct, Judge Mehta declined to ban them.

From the article

In September 2025, Judge Amit Mehta issued the long-awaited remedies opinion in the United States v. Google search case, in which he had previously held that Google illegally maintained its monopoly in general search services. At the heart of that monopol

Continue reading on hks.harvard.edu

You might also wanna read

Google's Antitrust Case: DOJ Proves Illegal Search Monopoly Practices

Cory Doctorow discusses the Google antitrust case where the Department of Justice successfully proved Google illegally maintained a search m

pluralistic.net·10mo ago

Judge Upholds Google's Safari Search Deal Following Apple Executive's Testimony

Apple executive Eddy Cue's testimony in Google's antitrust trial successfully influenced Judge Amit Mehta's ruling to allow Google to contin

The Verge·10mo ago

Google's Search Monopoly and the 2024 Court Ruling: Implications for Search Competition and AI

This blog post analyzes the current state of web search, focusing on Google's monopoly position and the impact of a 2024 U.S. court ruling t

blog.kagi.com·5mo ago

Google avoids major penalties in US search antitrust case, drawing criticism

The article discusses the US search antitrust case against Google, arguing that the outcome was a weak slap on the wrist rather than meaning

computerworld.com·10mo ago

Google Stock Rises 8% After Judge Rejects Severe Antitrust Penalties

Alphabet's stock surged 8% after a U.S. District Judge ruled against the most severe penalties proposed by the Department of Justice in Goog