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Gone quiet · last update Sep 2, 2025 / Google

The Justice Department's search monopoly case against Google

Overview · reviewed October 28, 2026

In the biggest US trial in a quarter century, the Justice Department argued that Google illegally maintained its monopoly over internet search, in part by paying more than $10 billion a year to be the default search engine on browsers and phones.[1][2] In August 2024 US District Judge Amit Mehta ruled that Google had broken antitrust law, but in September 2025 he rejected the government's request to make Google sell its Chrome browser, ordering instead that it share search data with rivals.[3][4][5]

Read the timeline

Follow this story to see new developments when you return.

In August 2024 US District Judge Amit Mehta ruled that Google had broken antitrust law, but in September 2025 he rejected the government's request to make Google sell its Chrome browser, ordering instead that it share search data with rivals.[3][4][5]

Coverage over time

Share of tracked outlets · monthly average of weekly shares (UTC)

Jul 2023: average weekly share 3% (left 1%, center 1%, right under 1%), from 1 of 1 weekAug 2023: average weekly share 0% (left 0%, center 0%, right 0%), from 4 of 4 weeksSep 2023: average weekly share 7% (left 2%, center 3%, right 2%), from 4 of 4 weeksOct 2023: average weekly share 3% (left 1%, center 2%, right 1%), from 5 of 5 weeksNov 2023: average weekly share 1% (left under 1%, center under 1%, right under 1%), from 4 of 4 weeksDec 2023: average weekly share 0% (left 0%, center 0%, right 0%), from 4 of 4 weeksJan 2024: average weekly share 0% (left 0%, center 0%, right 0%), from 5 of 5 weeksFeb 2024: average weekly share 0% (left 0%, center 0%, right 0%), from 4 of 4 weeksMar 2024: average weekly share 0% (left 0%, center 0%, right 0%), from 4 of 4 weeksApr 2024: average weekly share 0% (left 0%, center 0%, right 0%), from 5 of 5 weeksMay 2024: average weekly share 0% (left 0%, center 0%, right 0%), from 4 of 4 weeksJun 2024: average weekly share 0% (left 0%, center 0%, right 0%), from 4 of 4 weeksJul 2024: average weekly share 0% (left 0%, center 0%, right 0%), from 5 of 5 weeksAug 2024: average weekly share 7% (left 2%, center 3%, right 2%), from 4 of 4 weeksSep 2024: average weekly share 0% (left 0%, center 0%, right 0%), from 5 of 5 weeksOct 2024: average weekly share 4% (left 1%, center 2%, right 1%), from 4 of 4 weeksNov 2024: average weekly share 5% (left 1%, center 3%, right 1%), from 4 of 4 weeksDec 2024: average weekly share 0% (left 0%, center 0%, right 0%), from 5 of 5 weeksJan 2025: average weekly share 0% (left 0%, center 0%, right 0%), from 4 of 4 weeksFeb 2025: average weekly share 0% (left 0%, center 0%, right 0%), from 4 of 4 weeksMar 2025: average weekly share 0% (left 0%, center 0%, right 0%), from 5 of 5 weeksApr 2025: average weekly share 0% (left 0%, center 0%, right 0%), from 4 of 4 weeksMay 2025: average weekly share 0% (left 0%, center 0%, right 0%), from 4 of 4 weeksJun 2025: average weekly share 0% (left 0%, center 0%, right 0%), from 5 of 5 weeksJul 2025: average weekly share 0% (left 0%, center 0%, right 0%), from 4 of 4 weeksAug 2025: average weekly share 2% (left under 1%, center 1%, right 1%), from 4 of 4 weeksSep 2025: average weekly share 3% (left 1%, center 2%, right under 1%), from 5 of 5 weeksOct 2025: average weekly share 0% (left 0%, center 0%, right 0%), from 4 of 4 weeksNov 2025: average weekly share 0% (left 0%, center 0%, right 0%), from 4 of 4 weeksDec 2025: average weekly share 0% (left 0%, center 0%, right 0%), from 5 of 5 weeksJan 2026: average weekly share 0% (left 0%, center 0%, right 0%), from 4 of 4 weeksFeb 2026: average weekly share 0% (left 0%, center 0%, right 0%), from 4 of 4 weeksMar 2026: average weekly share 0% (left 0%, center 0%, right 0%), from 5 of 5 weeksApr 2026: average weekly share 0% (left 0%, center 0%, right 0%), from 4 of 4 weeksMay 2026: average weekly share 0% (left 0%, center 0%, right 0%), from 4 of 4 weeksJun 2026: average weekly share 0% (left 0%, center 0%, right 0%), from 5 of 5 weeksJul 2026: average weekly share 0% (left 0%, center 0%, right 0%), from 4 of 4 weeksAug 2026: average weekly share 0% (left 0%, center 0%, right 0%), from 5 of 5 weeksSep 2026: average weekly share 0% (left 0%, center 0%, right 0%), from 4 of 4 weeksOct 2026: average weekly share 0% (left 0%, center 0%, right 0%), from 4 of 4 weeksNov 2026: average weekly share 0% (left 0%, center 0%, right 0%), from 2 of 2 weeks, so far

LeftCenterRight

Each bar is the share of the outlets on our Left / Center / Right rating scale that we tracked publishing that week which carried reporting on this story, split by the outlets' ratings. Over more than two years each bar is a month: the average of that month's weekly shares, so the shape stays readable. The weekly table below keeps every week. We track more outlets now than in the archive, so a share keeps earlier and later weeks comparable. An outlet counts once a week however much it published, and outlets in one ownership or syndication group count as one on each side they appear on. A rating describes the outlet, not the report. A gap means no such reports were collected that week, not that nothing was reported anywhere. Weeks run Monday to Sunday in UTC, so a report published on a Sunday evening in US Eastern time counts in the next week. 10 more outlets off the scale (not rated, or outside the left-right graphs) also reported; they are not in this chart. See them.

Weekly counts, outlets and reports (15 weeks with coverage)
Outlets on the rating scale that carried this story each week, of the outlets tracked that week, newest first
Week of (UTC)LeftCenterRightOf trackedShareReceipts
Sep 1, 2025714425 of 17714%
Aug 11, 202527514 of 1818%
Nov 18, 202413241047 of 22521%
Oct 7, 2024714930 of 20515%
Aug 5, 202414251453 of 20226%
Nov 13, 20232316 of 2153%
Oct 30, 202329314 of 2336%
Oct 23, 20231203 of 2381%
Oct 16, 20233216 of 2482%
Oct 9, 202334512 of 2375%
Oct 2, 20230516 of 2432%
Sep 25, 20231449 of 2274%
Sep 11, 202318211251 of 24221%
Sep 4, 20233205 of 2532%
Jul 31, 20233317 of 2543%

Latest coverage

The newest reporting in this story's record.

  1. Sep 1, 2025 · first reported · Headline from Digital Journal

    Google not required to sell Chrome, judge rules

Background

Before the trial, a federal judge threw out states' claims that Google's design of its search results page harmed rivals such as Yelp and Expedia.[6] The 10-week trial began in Washington in September 2023.[1] Apple's Eddy Cue defended making Google the default on Safari,[7] a Microsoft executive testified that Apple used the possibility of switching to Bing as a "bargaining chip,"[8] and Microsoft's chief executive, Satya Nadella, said Google's unfair tactics had thwarted Bing.[9] Google's chief executive, Sundar Pichai, defended paying Apple and others for default placement,[10] and an economist's testimony revealed the terms of Google's revenue-sharing deal with Apple.[11]

On August 5, 2024, Mehta ruled that Google had violated antitrust law.[3] The Justice Department asked him to order Google to sell Chrome,[12] and in 2025 the AI search company Perplexity made an unsolicited $34.5 billion offer for the browser.[13] On September 2, 2025, Mehta ordered a major makeover of Google's search business, requiring it to share search results and some data with competitors, but rebuffed the request to break up the company or force the sale of Chrome or Android.[14][4][5]

Supporting stories (14)
  1. It's Google versus the US in the biggest antitrust trial in decades
  2. US says Google pays $10 billion a year to dominate search
  3. U.S. federal judge rules Google illegally held a monopoly on search and text advertising
  4. In a major antitrust ruling, a judge lets Google keep Chrome but levies other penalties
  5. U.S. judge orders Google to share search data with competitors
  6. Google Search Antitrust Suit Narrowed by Federal Judge Ahead of September Trial
  7. Apple exec Eddy Cue set to testify in Google trial about $19 billion search deal
  8. Apple leverages idea of switching to Bing to pry more money out of Google, Microsoft exec says
  9. Microsoft CEO says unfair practices by Google led to its dominance as a search engine
  10. Google CEO defends paying Apple and others to make Google the default search engine on devices
  11. Alphabet pays Apple 36% of Safari search revenue, Sundar Pichai confirms
  12. US regulators seek to break up Google, forcing Chrome sale as part of monopoly punishment
  13. This AI Startup Founded by a Google Intern Bids $34.5B to Acquire Chrome Browser
  14. Judge orders search shakeup in Google monopoly case, but keeps hands off Chrome and default deals

The full record

Each date is when an update was first reported.

All 16 recorded updates

September 2025

  1. In a major antitrust ruling, a judge lets Google keep Chrome but levies other penaltiesHeadline from NPR · 17 outlets
  2. Judge orders search shakeup in Google monopoly case, but keeps hands off Chrome and default dealsHeadline from ABC 7 Los Angeles · 11 outlets
  3. U.S. judge orders Google to share search data with competitorsHeadline from NBC News · 6 outlets

August 2025

  1. This AI Startup Founded by a Google Intern Bids $34.5B to Acquire Chrome BrowserHeadline from Observer · 18 outlets

November 2024

  1. US regulators seek to break up Google, forcing Chrome sale as part of monopoly punishmentHeadline from ABC 11 Raleigh · 53 outlets

October 2024

  1. US considers asking court to break up Google as it weighs remedies in the antitrust caseHeadline from Omaha World-Herald · 33 outlets

August 2024

  1. U.S. federal judge rules Google illegally held a monopoly on search and text advertisingHeadline from KYMA Yuma · 58 outlets

November 2023

  1. Alphabet pays Apple 36% of Safari search revenue, Sundar Pichai confirmsHeadline from NBC Chicago · 9 outlets

October 2023

  1. Google CEO defends paying Apple and others to make Google the default search engine on devicesHeadline from NBC 6 South Florida · 16 outlets
  2. What Google’s antitrust trial means for your search habitsHeadline from Bangor Daily News · 17 outlets
  3. Microsoft CEO says unfair practices by Google led to its dominance as a search engineHeadline from The Republic · 6 outlets

September 2023

  1. Apple leverages idea of switching to Bing to pry more money out of Google, Microsoft exec saysHeadline from MyNorthwest · 7 outlets
  2. Apple exec Eddy Cue set to testify in Google trial about $19 billion search dealHeadline from NBC 6 South Florida · 4 outlets
  3. US says Google pays $10 billion a year to dominate searchHeadline from France 24 · 9 outlets
  4. It's Google versus the US in the biggest antitrust trial in decadesHeadline from Daily Journal · 55 outlets

August 2023

  1. Google Search Antitrust Suit Narrowed by Federal Judge Ahead of September TrialHeadline from Wall Street Journal · 8 outlets

Coverage & sources

Read the reports, see how much was collected over time, or compare outlets by political leaning.

Coverage & sources →