Google will not be barred from entering into search agreements with companies like Apple, the judge presiding over the antitrust case between Google and the U.S. Department of Justice said today (via Bloomberg).
Google is not allowed to enter into exclusive contracts for search engine distribution, but it is still allowed to pay to Apple to be a search engine option on iPhone. Apple earns around $20 billion annually from Google, and there was a risk that the two companies could be banned from entering into search engine agreements.
"Cutting off payments from Google almost certainly will impose substantial -- in some cases, crippling -- downstream harms to distribution partners, related markets, and consumers, which counsels against a broad payment ban," said the judge.
Google is specifically allowed to make payments and offer "other consideration" to distribution partners for the preloading or placement of Google Search, Chrome, and Gemini.
Google will not have to sell its Chrome browser, or the Android operating system. The judge said that the government "overreached in seeking the forced divestiture" of the assets.
Besides being barred from entering into exclusive search engine distribution contracts, Google will also need to share data with rival search engines. The DOJ had asked that Google be forced to provide data on how it decides what to surface based on a given search.
Google was found to have a search monopoly back in August of 2024, and the court has been deciding what action to take to break up Google's monopoly since then. The DOJ was pushing for the divestiture of Chrome and the possible divestiture of Android.
Google is appealing the ruling, likely due to the data sharing component.
