"Exclusive Contracts and Search Data Monopolization Prohibited"
On September 2 (local time), a U.S. court ruled that Google, which had been determined to be a monopoly in the search market, does not have to sell its Chrome browser (internet access program).
The U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia stated that while Google may continue to operate the Chrome browser, it is prohibited from entering into exclusive contracts and from monopolizing search data.
Previously, in October 2020, the U.S. Department of Justice filed a lawsuit alleging that Google violated antitrust laws by paying large sums to smartphone manufacturers such as Apple and Samsung Electronics in an attempt to establish a dominant position in the search engine market. In August last year, the court determined that Google was a monopoly in the search market. The Department of Justice has argued that Google should be forced to sell the Chrome browser in order to resolve its monopoly in the internet search market.
With this ruling, Google has avoided the worst-case scenario of having to break up Chrome.
However, Google has announced plans to appeal the decision.
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