Google to Appeal Antitrust Ruling on Online Search Market

Related Trial Concluded on May 30
U.S. Court to Announce Ruling in August
Google: "Measures Favor Competitors, Grant Excessive Power to Government"

Google has once again confirmed its intention to appeal the court's decision that its dominant position in the online search market violates antitrust laws.

According to Reuters and other sources on June 1 (local time), Google stated on X (formerly Twitter) on May 31, "We are waiting for the court's official opinion," but added, "We remain convinced that the court's initial ruling was wrong, and we are considering a future appeal."

This position was announced as the trial regarding Google's alleged market monopoly concluded last month, leaving only the court's ruling pending.

The U.S. Department of Justice filed a lawsuit, arguing that Google is illegally monopolizing the market based on its approximately 90% share of the search market. In August of last year, the U.S. District Court accepted the Department of Justice's claims.

Since April, the U.S. District Court in Washington D.C. has been conducting proceedings to discuss measures to resolve Google's monopolistic position, and the hearing was concluded on May 30. The court is expected to make a final decision on corrective actions against Google in August.

Although the court has not yet finalized its remedies, Google appears to be signaling its intention to contest any measures, as the discussions are based on the monopoly recognition ruling issued in August of last year. Google had also expressed its intention to appeal at that time.

Previously, the Department of Justice proposed several measures to the court regarding Google: the sale of the Chrome web browser; a ban on providing financial incentives to secure default search engine status with major companies such as Apple; and a requirement to share user data with competitors.

In response, Google has strongly opposed the Department of Justice's proposals, arguing that they are much stricter than the European Union's Digital Markets Act (DMA). Google claimed that if such measures are implemented, "it would become virtually impossible to continue the research and development (R&D) investments and innovation that have been ongoing for the past 30 years."

In the statement released that day, Google also criticized the Department of Justice's proposals, saying, "They would allow the government, rather than the court, to arbitrarily determine the ownership of user data," and argued that this would grant excessive power to the government.

Google further pointed out that the Department of Justice's proposals are "measures for competitors only, with no clear explanation of how they would provide any tangible benefits to consumers."

Meanwhile, Google is expected to be able to formally file an appeal only after the court officially decides on the remedies to resolve the monopoly in August.