March 9th, 2025 by WCBC Radio
Attorney General Anthony G. Brown joined a coalition of 38 attorneys general and the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) to propose a final package of remedies to end Google’s illegal monopoly over internet search engines and to restore competition to the benefit of consumers nationwide.
The revised Proposed Final Judgment aligns closely to what the states and DOJ offered in November in an initial filing with the D.C. federal district court judge who, last year, ruled in a landmark decision that Google is a monopolist in online search “Because Google has secured a dominant position in the search market and faces little meaningful competition, it can amass billions in digital advertising revenue without the pressure to improve the quality of its search engine,” said Attorney General Brown. “This litigation and these remedies reinforce that no company is beyond accountability and demonstrate our Office’s commitment to protecting Marylanders from the harmful impacts of unlawful monopolies.”
The package of remedies continues to propose a ban on all search-related payments to distribution partners, including Apple and Android partners. Google would also be required to divest Chrome, with the possible divestiture of Android if the initial set of remedies prove less effective than anticipated or if Google fails to comply with the decree. The plaintiffs would further be entitled to preliminarily review Google’s future financial interests in online search and generative AI competitors for a limited period to ensure Google cannot use the same monopolistic playbook with new technologies. Finally, the decree would deny Google the continued benefits of its ill-gotten gains by requiring the company to share targeted portions of its search index, user, and ads data with its competitors for a limited time.
The revised Proposed Final Judgment takes a more refined approach to the sharing of these types of data, accounting for important privacy considerations and protecting national security.
A hearing on the proposed remedies is currently scheduled to begin on April 21, 2025, and conclude by May 9, 2025.
