Google must now limit all default search and AI app contracts to a maximum of one year. This effectively ends the multi-year deals (think Apple, Samsung) that have long helped it remain the default option on billions of devices. Still, this change alone is unlikely to topple Google’s dominance in search anytime soon.
Driving the news. On Friday, Judge Amit Mehta described the one-year limit as a “hard-and-fast termination requirement” necessary to enforce antitrust remedies following his 2024 decision that Google unlawfully monopolized search and search advertising, Business Insider reported. In September, Mehta issued an order on Google’s search arrangements:
- “Google will be barred from entering or maintaining any exclusive contract relating to the distribution of Google Search, Chrome, Google Assistant, and the Gemini app. Google shall not enter or maintain any agreement that
- (1) conditions the licensing of the Play Store or any other Google application on the distribution, preloading, or placement of Google Search, Chrome, Google Assistant, or the Gemini app anywhere on a device;
- (2) conditions the receipt of revenue share payments for the placement of one Google application (e.g., Search, Chrome, Google Assistant, or the Gemini app) on the placement of another such application;
- (3) conditions the receipt of revenue share payments on maintaining Google Search, Chrome, Google Assistant, or the Gemini app on any device, browser, or search access point for more than one year; or
- (4) prohibits any partner from simultaneously distributing any other GSE, browser, or GenAI product search access point for more than one year; or (4) prohibits any partner from simultaneously distributing any other GSE, browser, or GenAI product.”
Why we care. With search becoming more fragmented, user journeys may begin in many different places. If AI-driven competitors like OpenAI, Perplexity, or Microsoft gain even modest share, you’ll be operating in a wider, more complex search ecosystem.
Reality check. This is more of a slowdown than a disruption. Google’s financial strength, brand recognition, and entrenched user behavior still give it substantial leverage in renegotiating annual deals.