Sundar Pichai, CEO of Google and Alphabet.
In a landmark ruling in the US antitrust case against Google, federal judge Amit Mehta has decided that parent company Alphabet must now share certain data from its search engine with competitors. According to Tagesschau, the court responded to the finding of an illegal monopoly in web search, which had already been established last year. However, the judge rejected the US government's demand to break up the conglomerate. Google will not have to sell its web browser Chrome or its mobile operating system Android.
The decision marks the provisional end of a five-year legal dispute in which Google was accused of defending its dominant market position using unfair means. With a market share of approximately 90 percent in the search engine sector, Alphabet controls the lion's share of global online advertising revenue. Nevertheless, the court deemed the requested drastic measures – such as a forced sale of Chrome – disproportionate.
Instead, Mehta imposed conditions aimed at enabling fair competition. For instance, Google may no longer enter into exclusive contracts that prevent device manufacturers from pre-installing competing products. However, the company is still allowed to pay partners like Apple or Mozilla to pre-install its services. The judge rejected the idea of mandating a choice of search engines – as exists in the EU – for the USA.
Regulations concerning artificial intelligence and data sharing are of particular importance. During his testimony, Sundar Pichai, CEO of Google and Alphabet, reportedly rejected the latter measure as a »de facto expropriation of intellectual property«.
The ruling is considered historic, as it is the first major US monopoly case since the Microsoft proceedings in 1998. Nonetheless, it may only be an interim step: Google has already announced its intention to appeal.
MK
