Google appealed against a US court ruling on its search monopoly in the latest move.
Alphabet’s Google on Friday appealed a Washington federal judge’s ruling that it holds an illegal monopoly in online search and related advertising.
Google argued that US Judge Amit Mehta made legal errors in his 2024 ruling, which found the company illegally blocked competitors by paying billions of dollars annually to companies including Apple to become the default search engine on new devices.
Google argued that the arrangement did not prevent device makers and browser developers from promoting rival search services like Microsoft’s Bing.
The company said it “has excelled in the market by developing a better search engine through hard work, bold innovation, and smart business decisions.”
The US Justice Department is expected to file papers presenting its arguments in July. A DOJ spokesperson declined to comment.
Mehta had ordered Google to share some search data with competitors, possibly including artificial intelligence companies like OpenAI, to restore competition. An appeals court that ruled in Google’s favor will overturn that order.
If Google loses in the US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, it could appeal to the US Supreme Court.
