Android

A federal judge today announced what remedies Google faces after the company was found to have a monopoly in online search.

The district judge overseeing the case ruled today that Google does not have to sell the browser, or Android: “Plaintiffs overreached in seeking forced [divestiture] of these key assets, which Google did not use to effect any illegal restraints.” The case was filed in 2020 and the illegal monopoly ruling was made in August of 2024.

However, Google is barred from exclusive Search contracts that prohibit other providers from also being installed on devices.

The big change today is that Google must share “certain search index and user-interaction data, though not ads data” with “Qualified Competitors.” The aim is to “enable those firms to deliver high-quality search results and ads to compete with Google while they develop their own search technologies and capacity.”