Google's Search Antitrust Case Didn't End in 2025. It Just Moved to a New Courtroom.

In September 2025, Judge Amit Mehta of the US District Court for the District of Columbia ordered a set of remedies against Google following his earlier ruling that the company illegally maintained a monopoly in online search. He stopped short of forcing Google to sell off Chrome, but he banned exclusive default-placement contracts, the kind of deal that made Google the automatic search engine on countless phones and browsers, and ordered Google to license some of its search data to rival companies. That ruling became legally final in December 2025. It also satisfied nobody, and a year later the real argument over what Google has to do is playing out at the US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit.

Two appeals pulling in opposite directions

Google filed its notice of appeal on January 16, 2026, challenging the data-sharing requirements and the technical committee Judge Mehta set up to oversee compliance. The Justice Department, joined by 38 state attorneys general, filed a cross-appeal on February 3 arguing the remedies didn't go far enough, and it's still pushing for what Mehta rejected: a forced breakup that would split off Chrome or Android.

The two sides are now working through a formal briefing schedule. Google filed its opening brief on May 22. Court records show Google's reply brief is due September 29, 2026. The cases, consolidated under docket numbers 26-5023, 26-5047, and 26-5049, haven't had an oral argument date set yet, though legal trackers following the docket expect one in late 2026 or early 2027.

The remedies are live, but barely

Part of Mehta's order already took effect in February 2026, meaning Google is technically operating under the new rules while the appeal plays out. In practice, implementation has been slow. As of early August, no public filing confirmed that any rival search company had actually started receiving the search data or syndication access the order requires. Setting up a compliance framework this complex apparently takes longer than winning the case that created it.

Meanwhile, in Brussels

Google's antitrust exposure isn't limited to the US case. A separate European Commission fine against Alphabet, roughly 4.67 billion euros over Android's bundling practices, became legally final on July 2, 2026, after years of its own appeals process. It's a reminder that Google is fighting a version of this same fight on two continents at once, with different regulators reaching similar conclusions about the same underlying behavior: using platform control to lock out competitors.

The verdict

Nobody who won anything in the original ruling is treating it as over, and that tells you the real outcome is still undecided. Google's appeal, if it succeeds, could gut the data-sharing rules before any rival benefits from them. The DOJ's cross-appeal, if it succeeds, could force exactly the kind of structural breakup Mehta avoided. Watch the September 29 reply brief and whenever the DC Circuit finally sets an oral argument date. Until then, this case isn't resolved. It's paused.