The Message for Big Tech in the Google Ruling: Play Nice, but Play On

A wave of government antitrust suits targeting American technology giants — Amazon, Apple, Google and Meta — spans different markets and makes different allegations of monopolistic misconduct. But their outcomes will determine the rules of competitive conduct in the modern digital economy, where the internet, data and increasingly artificial intelligence shape markets and corporate behavior.

A federal judge’s ruling Tuesday on what steps Google must take to fix its monopoly in online search delivered the first clear answer: You will be restrained, but not broken up or forced to fundamentally change your business practices.

“For the Big Tech firms, this ruling is a relief,” said David Yoffie, a professor at the Harvard Business School.

Tuesday’s decision by Judge Amit P. Mehta — the first major remedies ruling of the modern internet era — signals how the courts may approach reshaping antitrust law after a flurry of activity under both the Trump and Biden administrations to rein in the growing power of a handful of influential tech companies.

The decision, handed down in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, will force Google to share some search data with its competitors and put some restrictions on payments that the company uses to ensure its search engine gets prime placement in web browsers and on smartphones. But it fell far short of government requests to force it to sell its popular Chrome browser and share far more valuable data.

It was a measured approach that signaled judicial reluctance to intervene too deeply in fast-changing, high-tech markets.