Google says it will appeal the antitrust ruling on online searches

Google (GOOGL.O), a subsidiary of Alphabet, announced on Saturday that it would appeal an antitrust ruling in which a federal court suggested less drastic measures to restore internet search competition than the 10-year plan recommended by antitrust authorities.

“We’ll await the Court’s ruling. Google stated in a post on X, opens new tab, “And we still firmly believe the Court’s original decision was wrong, and look forward to our eventual appeal.”

Closing arguments were held Friday in a trial before U.S. District Judge Amit Mehta in Washington over measures to remedy Google’s unlawful monopoly in online search and related advertising.

The U.S. Department of Justice suggested that Google should sell off at least its Google Ad Manager, which includes the company’s publisher ad server and its ad exchange, after a federal judge ruled in April that Google had unlawfully controlled two marketplaces for online advertising technology.

In order to stop Apple (AAPL.O) from receiving multibillion-dollar payments, the DOJ and a group of states want Google to exchange search data and make new tab and other smartphone manufacturers the default search engine on new handsets.

Google’s search monopoly provides it an advantage in artificial intelligence products like Gemini, and vice versa, which worries antitrust authorities.

At the hearing, Google lawyer John Schmidtlein stated that although generative AI is changing the way search appears, Google has allayed worries about AI competition by ceasing to enter into exclusive contracts with wireless carriers and smartphone manufacturers, such as Samsung Electronics (005930.KS), opens new tab, and permits them to install competing search and AI apps on new devices.