Washington – A U.S. District Judge has ruled that Google must share online search data with its rivals to address competition issues in the general online search market, broadly rejecting the Department of Justice’s request for overreaching remedies in its antitrust case against Google search. Google has said that it will file an appeal in the case.
Last year, U.S. District Judge Amit Mehta found Google’s profit-sharing agreements with other companies were anticompetitive. In response, the DOJ has pushed for overly broad remedies, including seeking a break-up or divestment of unrelated Google services, like its Chrome browser. In doing so, the proposed remedies went far beyond the scope of Judge Mehta’s ruling, putting at risk products and services that are popular with consumers.
The Computer & Communications Industry Association has advocated for competition in the tech industry for more than 50 years, having aligned with the DOJ in past cases, including the IBM, AT&T, and Microsoft matters.
The following can be attributed to CCIA President and CEO Matt Schruers:
“The District Court’s ruling rightly rejected the drastic breakup proposed by the DOJ regarding Chrome and Android, which would have altered antitrust precedent and harmed competition and consumers. As the Court stated, the DOJ overreached in seeking the forced divestiture of these key assets.”
“For consumers, the ruling means that Google will be compelled to share search queries and other data with certain competitors, which could significantly impact privacy and national security.”
