"A federal judge had already ruled that Alphabet holds a monopoly in internet search. The tech leader was waiting for its sentence. Regulators wanted to break up the monopoly by forcing Alphabet to divest Google Chrome, the world's most popular browser. That would have meant a major hit to the tech company's most important source of revenue, advertising, since Alphabet uses the browser to maintain its dominance in search (it is the default engine on Chrome), collect data to help guide targeted ad campaigns, and more."
"However, Alphabet avoided that fate. Judge Amit Mehta ruled that the company can keep Chrome. The tech leader isn't coming out of this completely unscathed, though. The judge also decided that Alphabet can no longer enter into "exclusive distribution agreements" that make it the default search engine for third-party developers, such as Apple's Safari. This ruling encompasses not only Google as a search engine, but also Chrome, Gemini, and other products developed by Alphabet."
Alphabet underperformed the market earlier despite strong financial results because investors priced in a damaging antitrust outcome. Regulators sought to break up the company's search monopoly by forcing divestiture of Google Chrome, which would have materially harmed advertising revenue and data advantages. A federal judge ruled that Alphabet can retain Chrome but prohibited future "exclusive distribution agreements" that lock in default search positions on third-party platforms like Safari. The mixed-but-favorable ruling drove an almost 10% single-day share-price gain for a company with a market cap above $2 trillion, reopening potential upside for investors.
Read at The Motley Fool
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