Business23 May 2026

Google appeals US court ruling on search monopoly

Alphabet's Google on Friday appealed a Washington federal judge's ruling that it ​holds illegal monopolies in online search and ‌related advertising.


Here are some details:



  • Google argued that U.S. Judge Amit Mehta made legal errors in his 2024 ruling, which ​found the company illegally blocked competitors by ​paying billions of dollars annually to firms ⁠including Apple to be the default search ​engine on new devices.



  • The arrangements did not prevent ​the device makers and browser developers from promoting rival search services like Microsoft's Bing, Google argued.



  • The company said it ​excelled in the market fairly by developing ​a "superior search engine through hard work, bold innovation, and shrewd ‌business ⁠decisions."



  • The U.S. Department of Justice is expected to file papers making its own arguments in July. A spokesperson for the DOJ declined to comment.



  • Mehta ​had ordered ​Google to ⁠share some search data with competitors, potentially including artificial intelligence companies such ​as OpenAI, to restore competition. An ​appeals ⁠court ruling in Google's favour would overturn that order.



  • If Google loses at the U.S. Court of ⁠Appeals ​for the District of Columbia ​Circuit, it could appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court.





-Reuters
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