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Official: Google Appeals Search Monopoly Ruling
Posted by on May 25, 2026 at 12:22 pmThanks top u/BarrySchwartz for sharing
We knew Google would appeal the search monopoly ruling; in fact, Google asked the courts to pause the remedies until the appeal is handled. Google was ruled an illegal monopoly in August 2024 but then the courts refused to break up Google as part of the remedies in September 2025.
Now, Google filed an 111 page appeal (PDF) where Google argued that U.S. District Judge Amit Mehta's "remarkable conclusion" wrongly punished the company for outperforming competitors and building a product so dominant its name became a verb, calling the ruling "as basic an error of antitrust law as a court can make."
Google asked the appeals court to completely overturn the remedies imposed by the lower court, which mandated that Google share specific search index data, user-interaction information, and syndicate results with competitors to level the playing field.
Google again argued that its success and dominant market position are the result of developing a superior product through hard work, bold innovation, and shrewd business decisions rather than anticompetitive behavior. It asserts that the district court made "as basic an error of antitrust law as a court can make" by finding liability despite recognizing Google's product quality.
In the appeal, Google emphasized that its multi-billion-dollar distribution agreements, such as its deal with Apple to be the default search engine on Safari, were won "fair and square." Google argues that these agreements did not block rivals from proposing better offers, nor did they restrict device manufacturers and browser developers from promoting alternative search services.
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1 Reply
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Fucking incredible. And they chipped in for the ballroom, so you know they’re gonna win the appeal. What a wonderful world we get to live in
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Appeal runs 2-3 years. Not immediate. More relevant to paid-ads operators is what we’ve observed with antitrust scrutiny on other platforms: stricter policy enforcement as a defensive move. Meta’s already doing this. If Google faces the same pressure, expect CPM inflation and tighter targeting rules during the litigation. That’s more tangible impact than the appeal outcome itself.
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This a non-starter. They will be appealing this for years to come. It’s a game of dragging it out and Alphabet has all the money in the world to do so.
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