Google and Apple's $20 billion search deal survives

"Google will be able to keep making search deals like its $20 billion agreement to be the default option in Apple's Safari browser, a federal district court judge ruled in the US v. Google antitrust case on Tuesday. Executives from both Apple and Firefox-made Mozilla have defended their search deals with Google, with Mozilla's CFO testifying that Firefox might be doomed without the deal in place."

"Google will not be barred from making payments or offering other consideration to distribution partners for preloading or placement of Google Search, Chrome, or its GenAI products," Judge Amit Mehta wrote. "Cutting off payments from Google almost certainly will impose substantial-in some cases, crippling-downstream harms to distribution partners, related markets, and consumers, which counsels against a broad payment ban," Mehta said."

Judge Amit Mehta ruled that Google may continue making payments and offering other consideration to distribution partners for preloading or placement of Google Search, Chrome, and GenAI products, reasoning that cutting off payments would likely impose substantial — in some cases crippling — downstream harms to distribution partners, related markets, and consumers. Executives at Apple and Mozilla defended their search agreements, with Mozilla's CFO testifying that Firefox could be doomed without the deal. The court rejected requiring choice screens and declined to force divestiture of Chrome or Android, but ordered Google to share certain search data with competitors. Google plans to appeal.

Read at The Verge