Google will not have to sell its Chrome web browser but must share information with competitors, a US federal judge has ordered.
The remedies decided by District Judge Amit Mehta have emerged after a years-long court battle over Google's dominance in online search.
The case centered around Google's position as the default search engine on a range of its own products such as Android and Chrome as well as others made by the likes of Apple.
The US Department of Justice had demanded that Google sell Chrome - Tuesday's decision means the tech giant can keep it but it will be barred from having exclusive contracts and must share search data with rivals.
Google had proposed less drastic solutions, such as limiting its revenue-sharing agreements with firms like Apple to make its search engine the default on their devices and browsers.
On Tuesday, the company indicated that it viewed the ruling as a victory, and said the rise of artificial intelligence (AI) probably contributed to the outcome.
Today's decision recognizes how much the industry has changed through the advent of AI, which is giving people so many more ways to find information, Google said in a statement after the ruling.
This underlines what we've been saying since this case was filed in 2020: Competition is intense and people can easily choose the services they want, the statement continued.
The tech giant had denied wrongdoing since charges were first filed against it in 2020, saying its market dominance is due to its search engine being superior and consumer preference.
Last year, Judge Mehta ruled that Google had used unfair methods to establish a monopoly over the online search market, actively working to maintain a level of dominance that broke US law.
However, in his decision, Judge Mehta said a complete sell-off of Chrome was a poor fit for this case.
Google will also not have to sell off its Android operating system, which powers most of the world's smartphones.
The company had argued that offloading parts of its operations, like Android, would mean they would effectively stop working properly.
Today's remedy order agreed with the need to restore competition to the long-monopolized search market, and we are now weighing our options and thinking through whether the ordered relief goes far enough in serving that goal, Assistant Attorney General Abigail Slater wrote on X after the ruling.
Shares in Alphabet, Google's parent company, jumped by more than 8% after the ruling.
Smartphone makers such as Apple, Samsung, and Motorola will also benefit.
Before the ruling, Google paid these firms billions of dollars to exclusively pre-load or promote the tech company's products, spending over $26 billion in 2021 alone.
Now, Google will not be allowed to enter into exclusive contracts for Google Search, Chrome, Google Assistant, or the Gemini app, allowing manufacturers to pre-load or promote competing products.
However, Google will continue to be able to pay for default placements.
Gene Munster, managing partner at Deepwater Asset Management, noted the ruling is good news for big tech as it allows Google to renegotiate its search deal with Apple annually.
Judge Mehta's ruling appears less severe than expected, according to Melissa Otto of S&P Global Visible Alpha.
Despite Google's search operation expected to generate close to $200 billion this year, DuckDuckGo criticized the decision for not sufficiently addressing Google's alleged illegal behavior.
The decision is just one part of Google's ongoing legal challenges, with another trial against the company on the horizon, targeting its alleged monopolies in online advertising technology.
