Alphabet’s Google announced on Saturday that it will appeal a federal antitrust decision concerning its dominance in online search and advertising.
The move comes as U.S. District Judge Amit Mehta weighs how best to address Google’s monopoly, with the Department of Justice (DOJ) pushing for major structural changes.
Google said in a post on X that it disagrees with the court’s decision and will “wait for the Court’s opinion” before proceeding, reiterating its belief that the original ruling was incorrect.
The DOJ and several U.S. states argue that Google maintains its monopoly through anti-competitive practices, such as paying billions to Apple and others to remain the default search engine on devices. They propose that Google should stop such payments and share key search data to restore market competition.
In April, a separate ruling also found that Google illegally dominated the ad tech market, with regulators recommending the divestiture of Google Ad Manager, which includes its ad exchange and publisher tools.
Google’s attorney John Schmidtlein defended the company during closing arguments, saying that Google no longer has exclusive contracts with carriers like Samsung, allowing them to pre-install rival search and AI apps. He argued that the rise of generative AI, including tools like Gemini, is already reshaping search competition.
