Google has survived one of the biggest antitrust challenges in its history after a U.S. federal judge ruled that the company can keep its Chrome web browser but must open parts of its search business to competitors.

District Judge Amit Mehta rejected the U.S. Department of Justice’s (DOJ) demand for a forced sell-off of Chrome, calling it “a poor fit for this case.” Instead, the ruling bans Google from signing exclusive agreements for Google Search, Chrome, Google Assistant, and Gemini AI, while requiring the company to share certain search data with rivals.

DOJ vs Google

The DOJ had argued that Google abused its dominance by spending billions of dollars in exclusive contracts with Apple, Samsung, and Mozilla to make its search engine the default option. Court filings revealed Google spent $26 billion in 2021 alone on such deals.

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While the DOJ insisted more needed to be done to restore competition, Google cast the ruling as a win, emphasizing that AI has intensified competition and that users “can easily choose the services they want.”

Market & Industry Reaction

The decision sent Alphabet shares soaring by over 8%, as investors welcomed relief that Google avoided a structural breakup. Analysts called the ruling softer than expected.

Smartphone makers like Apple and Samsung stand to benefit, as they can now promote or preload rival search engines and digital assistants without exclusivity barriers.

However, critics like DuckDuckGo’s CEO Gabriel Weinberg argued the ruling failed to fix Google’s monopolistic practices, warning that consumers would still suffer.

What’s Next?

Despite this legal win, Google faces another DOJ case later this month over its dominance in online advertising technology, a business projected to generate nearly $200 billion in 2025.

For now, Google has avoided a breakup, but the battle over Big Tech regulation is far from over.