Google CEO Sundar Pichai during the press conference after his meeting with Polish PM Donald Tusk at Google for Startups Campus In Warsaw in Warsaw, Poland on February 13, 2025. Images)
Alphabet shares popped 8% in extended trading as investors celebrated what they viewed as minimal consequences from a historic defeat last year in the landmark antitrust case.
Last year, Google was found to hold an illegal monopoly in its core market of internet search.
U.S. District Judge Amit Mehta ruled against the most severe consequences that were proposed by the Department of Justice, including the forced sale of Google's Chrome browser, which provides data that helps its advertising business deliver targeted ads.
"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 stated. "Plaintiffs overreached in seeking forced divestiture of these key assets, which Google did not use to effect any illegal restraints."
Mehta, who oversaw the remedies trial in May, ordered the parties to meet by Sept. 10 for the final judgment.
In August 2024, the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia ruled that Google violated Section 2 of the Sherman Act and held a monopoly in search and related advertising.
The antitrust trial started in September 2023.