An appeal has been filed by a group of U.S. states, led by Colorado, following the outcome of a landmark antitrust case involving Google’s (GOOG) (GOOGL) online search business and its AI apps, according to media reports on Tuesday, citing a Washington court notice.
The reports said that the states filed the appeal after a federal judge issued very moderate limitations on the tech giant and rejected harsh remedies, including the divestiture of the Chrome browser, which was recommended by the Justice Department.
In 2024, Judge Amit Mehta ruled that Google monopolized the online search services market; however, the remedies he issued in his September ruling last year are viewed as soft and ineffective by the U.S. states.
The September ruling by Judge Mehta requires the tech giant to participate in an annual bidding against rivals to be fair and competitive and, if successful, continue to pay for its search engine and AI apps to be the default option.
Chrome, being the world’s most popular and used web browser, is expected to be the people’s preferred choice in major markets, and Google is seen as the winner in Mehta’s ruling because it has the resources to win any auction to maintain its online search dominance.
The appeal is expected to be heard by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit later this year.