Crucial Limits on Google’s Conditioning Power
A major flashpoint involved conditioning, the practice of tying one service’s distribution to another. Google argued it should only be barred from agreements that explicitly contain such terms. The DOJ wanted conditioning banned outright.
Judge Mehta sided with the government.
If Google insists it has no intention of such conditioning, he reasoned, “it should have no problem with a decree that expressly prohibits ‘any conditioning of the type.’”
Restrictions on Apple Device Access Points
The final judgment also blocks Google from conditioning consideration related to defaults across Apple ecosystems — from Safari to Siri, Spotlight, and even Privacy Mode. Each browser access point on each device must remain independent.
This ensures Apple users aren’t quietly steered into Google’s orbit through bundled arrangements.
Syndication: Rivals Should Build, Not Clone
The judge rejected Google’s argument that competitors should be required to mimic Google’s search results pages. Syndication, he said, is meant to give rivals a quality boost, not turn them into “Google clones.”
