Alphabet’s Google does not have to sell its Chrome web browser but must share some of its search and other data with competitors, a federal judge decided in the Justice Department’s landmark case against the search giant.
Judge Amit Mehta ruled last year that Google illegally monopolized online search and advertising by paying companies like Apple and Samsung billions of dollars a year to install Google as the default search engine on smartphones and web browsers.
The decision could have fundamentally reshaped how Google does business, and the Justice Department proposed sweeping changes including selling off Chrome or the Android operating system.
But Mehta stated in his Sept. 2 ruling that “Google will not be required to divest Chrome; nor will the court include a contingent divestiture of the Android operating system in the final judgment."
“Plaintiffs overreached in seeking forced divesture of these key assets, which Google did not use to effect any illegal restraints,” the ruling stated.
