Quote:Last year, a U.S. Judge ruled that Google had created an illegal monopoly in the search industry. The Justice Department had recommended severe remedies such as forcing Google to sell Chrome, and split Android away from the Mountain View company.

However, the antitrust trial seems to have taken a bizarre turn. A three-week hearing was held in April by Judge Amit Mehta of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia. Mehta's ruling bars Google from entering into exclusive contracts to distribute its software including Google Search, Chrome, Google Assistant, and the Gemini app.

But, he allowed Google's partnerships to continue, which means it can continue to pay its partners for preloading or placement of Google search, Chrome and GenAI products. Apple earns a cool $20 Billion a year from its partnership with Google. This is also good news for Firefox, since Mozilla had admitted in its testimony it would be doomed without Google's money. It could have played a big role in this ruling.

As for Google Chrome's sale, the Judge stated that the Justice Department had overreached in seeking the forced divestiture of key assets (Chrome), which Google had not used to effect any illegal restraints. The Court said that it will not include a contingent divestiture of the Android operating system in the final judgment.

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