Google appeals search monopoly ruling, says it won business ‘fair and square’

Google appeals search monopoly ruling, says it won business ‘fair and square’

By Lauren Feiner
Publication Date: 2026-05-22 16:28:00

Google officially filed its appeal of the federal ruling deeming it an illegal search monopolist, arguing the decision “crashed” through legal guardrails. “Google just prevailed in the marketplace fair and square,” it writes in its legal filing.

Google had already said it would appeal the ruling, which includes both the August 2024 decision about its illegal monopolization and the September 2025 remedies decision that ordered it to share some search data with competitors. The appeal brief filed Friday gives more insight into how the company plans to fight Judge Amit Mehta’s ruling.

“We are asking the court to overturn this flawed decision – partners and users have many options and choose Google because it provides the best, most helpful results,” Google VP of regulatory affairs Lee-Anne Mulholland said in a statement.

“Google just prevailed in the marketplace fair and square”

Google argues that Mehta erred in finding that its search distribution agreements with…