A U.S. judge has ruled that Google will not be broken up or forced to divest its Chrome browser or Android operating system, rejecting the Justice Department’s demand that Google sell Chrome. However, the tech giant will be barred from having exclusive default search deals and must share search data with their rivals.
These orders are temporary, lasting six years with potential oversight by a technical committee, and Google has the right to appeal the ruling.
Financial markets have reacted positively to the ruling, with shares in Alphabet, Google’s parent company, surging by more than 7%. However, the decision has also drawn criticism from some, including the founder of Google competitor DuckDuckGo, who argues that the order is not sufficient to curb Google’s dominant position.
