In 2024, U.S. District Judge Amit Mehta in Washington ruled that Google had used unlawful tactics to maintain its dominance in search, setting off a high-stakes legal battle over the future of the internet’s most widely used search engine. Google has now filed court papers requesting that Mehta’s order requiring it to share certain data be paused, arguing that compliance could expose trade secrets that cannot be recovered if the company ultimately prevails on appeal.
“Although Google believes that these remedies are unwarranted and should never have been imposed, it is prepared to do everything short of turning over its data or providing syndicated results and ads while its appeal is pending,” the company said. Google has not sought to delay other aspects of the ruling, including limits on contracts that allow it to preload apps, like its Gemini AI chatbot, for up to one year.
The 2024 decision marked a significant moment in U.S. antitrust enforcement, finding that Google holds multiple illegal monopolies in search and digital advertising. Despite this, the company has largely avoided severe consequences, and the outcome of ongoing appeals could reshape the remedies the court imposes.
The Department of Justice and the coalition of states that brought the case have until February 3 to decide whether they will appeal Mehta’s decision rejecting stronger enforcement measures. Regulators had previously sought sweeping remedies, including forcing Google to sell its Chrome browser and ending multibillion-dollar payments to Apple and other companies that set Google as the default search engine on devices.
The case highlights the complex intersection of technology, competition, and AI innovation, as Google’s control over search data remains a focal point in debates over fairness and market power in the rapidly evolving tech landscape.