Google just escalated its legal fight against the government. The search giant filed an appeal on Friday challenging a federal judge's August 2024 ruling that it illegally monopolized the search market, a move that could freeze any implementation of remedies while the appeals process plays out. The filing reignites one of the most consequential tech antitrust cases in a decade, with Google arguing that Judge Amit Mehta's decision ignored market realities and the rise of AI competitors.
Google on Friday filed to appeal a federal judge's ruling that the company held an illegal monopoly in its core market of internet search. The move marks the next phase of a legal saga that's reshaped how regulators think about Big Tech, and it comes after months of what Google characterized as surprisingly lenient remedies.
The appeal could delay or stall implementation of the remedies that Judge Amit Mehta finalized in December. Mehta's ruling was already considered a partial victory for Google - he rejected the Justice Department's most aggressive proposals, including forced sale of Chrome, which sparked an 8% stock jump when announced in September 2025. But the company's decision to appeal everything signals it won't accept even the lighter consequences without a legal fight.
"The decision failed to account for the rapid pace of innovation and intense competition we face from established players and well-funded start-ups," Lee-Anne Mulholland, Google's Vice President of Regulatory Affairs, wrote in a company blog post Friday. The filing argues that the 2024 ruling "ignored the reality that people use Google because they want to, not because they're forced to."
Context here matters. The antitrust trial started in September 2023 with the government arguing that Google had illegally locked down search through exclusive distribution deals - particularly its multibillion-dollar agreement with Apple to be the default search engine on iPhones. In August 2024, Judge Mehta agreed, finding that Google violated Section 2 of the Sherman Act and held a monopoly in search and related advertising. At the time, Google signaled it would appeal.
What followed was a remedies trial last spring where the DOJ and Google presented competing visions for how to unwind the monopoly. Witnesses from , Mozilla, and competitors like testified about the state of search competition and what consequences should face. The DOJ pushed hard for structural remedies - basically forcing to spin off or sell assets like or Android. Judge Mehta ultimately rejected those nuclear options.
