Google has appealed a US district judge's landmark antitrust ruling that found the company illegally held a monopoly in online search.
As we have long said, the Court's August 2024 ruling ignored the reality that people use Google because they want to, not because they're forced to, Google's vice president for regulatory affairs Lee-Anne Mulholland said.
In its announcement on Friday, Google stated that Judge Amit Mehta’s ruling did not take into account the pace of innovation and intense competition the company faces.
The company is requesting a pause on implementing a series of fixes—perceived by some as too lenient—aimed at limiting its monopoly power.
Judge Mehta recognized the rapid changes in Google's business when he issued his remedies in September, noting that the rise of generative artificial intelligence (AI) has altered the landscape of the case.
He declined to grant government lawyers their request for a breakup of Google, which would have included a spin-off of its popular Chrome browser.
Instead, he suggested less strict remedies, such as mandating Google to share certain data with qualified competitors, as defined by the court.
This data was expected to cover parts of its search index, a vast repository of web content that serves as a guide to the internet.
The judge also proposed that Google permit specific competitors to showcase its search results as their own, aimed at providing new entrants the opportunity to innovate.
On Friday, Mulholland expressed concern over being compelled to share search data and services with rivals, backing the request for suspension of the orders.
These mandates could jeopardize privacy for Americans and hinder competitors from developing their own offerings—ultimately stunting the innovation that keeps the U.S. leading in global technology, Mulholland stated.
Despite increasing investments in AI, Google's ambitions face scrutiny.
Just last month, the EU launched an investigation into Google pertaining to its AI summaries appearing above search results.
The European Commission is probing whether Google unfairly utilized data from websites to generate the service without adequately compensating publishers.
Google warned that this investigation could impede innovation in a competitive sector.
This week, Google parent Alphabet reached a milestone as the fourth company to attain a market capitalisation of $4 trillion.
