ETtech Explainer: Google vs US in search monopoly case

In August 2024, US federal Judge Amit P Mehta ruled that Google broke antitrust law when it paid companies like Apple, Samsung, and Mozilla billions of dollars to automatically appear as the search engine in browsers and on smartphones. He ruled that Google’s monopoly allowed it to inflate the prices for some search ads, bending the rules of competition.

To fix this issue, the government had suggested aggressive measures such as forcing Google to sell its Chrome web browser and share proprietary data with competitors. The prosecutors also wanted…