US court rules Google gets to keep Chrome browser

NEW YORK/ISTANBUL

A US federal court ruled Tuesday that Google is not required to sell its Chrome browser as part of an antitrust lawsuit.

The Washington, DC District Court issued its ruling on the US Department of Justice's request to force Google to sell Chrome.

“Google will not be required to divest Chrome; nor will the court include a contingent divestiture of the Android operating system in the final judgment,” the decision said. “Plaintiffs overreached in seeking forced divesture of these key assets, which Google did not use to effect any illegal restraints.”

The ruling also said the company was not required to stop payments to distribution partners for pre-installing its apps on devices. However, the judge barred Google from entering into exclusive agreements that would make its products the default on devices.

The ruling also determined that the company would share certain search index and user interaction data with qualified competitors, noting that this would promote competition.

Following the decision, shares of Google's parent company Alphabet surged 7.6% in after-hours trading.

On Jan. 24, 2023, the US Department of Justice, along with the attorneys general of California, Colorado, Connecticut, New Jersey, New York, Rhode Island, Tennessee and Virginia, filed an antitrust lawsuit against Google in the Eastern District of Virginia.

The department alleged in a statement that the company monopolizes numerous digital advertising technology products and that Google uses anti-competitive, exclusionary and illegal methods to eliminate or significantly diminish any threats to its dominance in the industry.

The statement said Google has neutralized or eliminated its ad technology competitors through acquisitions over the past 15 years and that the company has used its dominance in the digital advertising market to force more publishers and advertisers to use its products and to prevent the use of rival products.

The statement noted that this has solidified Google's dominance in the industry and also outlined the nature of the company's anti-competitive behavior.