Alphabet shares up more than 9% after US court rules against Google break-up

Company avoids worst-case scenario in judge's ruling in anti-trust case

Alphabet shares rose as much as 9 per cent on Wednesday after a US judge ruled against breaking up Google. EPA

Alphabet shares jumped on Wednesday after a US judge ruled that Google does not have to sell off its search engine, Google Chrome.

US District Judge Amit Mehta's decision meant that Alphabet, which owns Google, avoided a worst-case scenario after the Justice Department suggested the tech company sell off its web browser.

“Today’s decision recognises how much the industry has changed through the advent of AI, which is giving people so many more ways to find information. 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,” Google vice president of regulatory affairs Lee-Anne Mulholland said in a statement on Tuesday.

Alphabet closed 9.14 per cent higher at $230.66 a share at 4pm ET.

Mr Mehta also ruled the company could continue to pay other companies to load products. Google pays Apple about $20 billion a year to make Google Search the default search engine on iPhones.

Apple shares increased 3.81 per cent. The S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite also rose 0.51 per cent and 1.03 per cent, respectively, during Wednesday trading.

While Alphabet avoided its worst-case scenario, Judge Mehta placed limits on how the company can distribute Google services and requires it to share search data with its rivals. Alphabet said it is closely reviewing the decision.

“We’re currently reviewing the judgment in detail, but it’s encouraging to see the court recognise the risk of unintended consequences when trying to improve search competition – and not just for browsers like Firefox, but for the future of the open web,” Mozilla chief executive Laura Chambers said in a statement.

The ruling follows a five-year legal battle between the Justice Department and Google. Mr Mehta ruled last year that Google has an illegal monopoly in online search and related advertising. The growing influence of artificial intelligence also raised questions about how effective penalties against Google could be.

Also on Wednesday, France's data protection authority fined Google a record €325 million ($380 million) for failing to comply with rules on internet cookies. The agency said it fined Google "for displaying advertisements between Gmail users' emails without their consent and for placing cookies when creating Google accounts, without valid consent of French users".

Chinese-founded fast-fashion group Shein was also fined, as part of the statement.