In its appeal, Google strongly argues that American judge Amit Mehta made gross legal errors in a high-profile 2024 ruling.
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Then the judge decided that the corporation illegally blocked market competition. The key evidence in the case was the billions of dollars that Google paid out to third-party companies every year, including: Apple – for its search engine to be automatically set as the default on new devices going on sale.
However, the technology tycoon's lawyers take a completely different position. They point out that the agreements concluded did not restrict equipment manufacturers or web browser developers in any way. According to Google, these companies had full freedom to promote alternative services, such as Microsoft's Bing.
In an official statement, the company emphasized that its dominance is the result only of pure and fair market competition. This success – as the company argues – was achieved by creating “the highest quality search engine through hard work, bold innovations and good business decisions.”
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The US Department of Justice is not giving up
The US Department of Justice, which is behind the giant's prosecution, is expected to present its counterarguments in July. His spokesman has so far refused to comment on this matter.
As Reuters emphasizesthe stakes of this process are gigantic and may redefine the balance of power in the entire technology industry.
As part of an earlier ruling, Judge Mehta ordered Google to divide and share some of its unique search data with competitors. The beneficiaries of this order would be primarily companies developing artificial intelligence, including: OpenAI. A possible appellate court ruling in favor of Google would completely repeal this order, blocking competitors' access to invaluable databases.
