Google under fire: Court breaks its search monopoly for the first time

The September 2, 2025 US federal court ruling ends the era of $GOOG's absolute dominance in search. The company must stop making exclusive deals and sharing some of its data with competitors, fundamentally changing the rules of the game for the entire internet ecosystem. Although the market has so far reacted positively - Alphabet shares jumped 8% - investors and analysts alike are facing the question of whether this is just a cosmetic adjustment or the beginning of a deeper erosion of Google's most profitable business.

Top points of analysis

• Ban on exclusivity agreementsA: Google can no longer pay device and browser manufacturers to set its search engine as the default. This opens up space for competitors, especially Microsoft and smaller players.

• Data sharing obligations: The company must make part of its search index and user data available to rivals. This is the first time in history that competitors will have access to the infrastructure that formed the backbone of Google.

• Restrictio…