If Google’s creative AI Assistant Gemini The chatbot will overtake OpenAI’s ChatGPT in popularity in the coming years, but it might have to do so without some of the advertising partnerships that have helped push Google search front and center in the coming years. American life.
In a federal United States filed in court on FridayGoogle has proposed a series of three-year restrictions that would prohibit the company from requiring device makers, browsers and licensed wireless carriers to distribute Gemini to their US users. Google will also give those partners more flexibility in how they set the default search provider for their users.
Google’s proposal opposes calls last month from the U.S. Department of Justice for Google to not only loosen its grip on partners but also share more data with competitors and Divestment of Chrome browser business. Company on Friday officially rejected the idea of selling off any part of your business or passing more information on to a competitor. And its proposed restrictions could be interpreted as narrower than those the government wants.
The battle follows a ruling last August by U.S. District Judge Amit Mehta in Washington, D.C., who found that Google violates federal antitrust laws Through agreements, it becomes the default search provider on iOS and other software in exchange for sharing advertising revenue with partners. Mehta found that the default agreements helped Google win and retain users, giving Google a monopoly in both search and search advertising. The search giant was able to increase advertising prices without restriction, driving “significant revenue growth” and “remarkably stable operating profits,” Mehta wrote in his ruling.
Now, Mehta must decide what penalties Google will face. He has scheduled hearings to begin in April and is expected to make a decision next August.
The emergence of ChatGPT, Gemini and similar chatbots as competitors to traditional search engines has emerged in court proceedings. The Justice Department and several state attorneys general involved in the case want to ensure that Google cannot shift its dominance in traditional search to this emerging field.
But even after Mehta’s upcoming ruling, an appeal is still expected. It could take years before any restrictions on Google take effect. That makes investors optimistic about the prospects of Google and parent company Alphabet. The group’s shares are up more than 37% in 2024, on pace for the eighth-best annual gain since its IPO 20 years ago.
Transfer of dominion
In this year’s test, Google attributed its dominance in search to developing an experience that users love. The Justice Department argues that users always follow the default settings on their phones and browsers – usually Google. The company’s proposal on Friday emphasized that Google doesn’t want to completely lose those defaults. For example, it would allow Google to ensure default search status on certain Samsung phone models in the US while temporarily suspending the requirement for all of them to do so.
Google could also still strike deals to promote Gemini. There’s nothing in Google’s proposal that would prevent it from paying Samsung to advertise Gemini on all of its devices. But under the proposed restrictions, Google would not be able to require Gemini advertising partners as a condition of being able to serve search, Chrome, or the Google Play app store. And it won’t stop partners from collaborating with rival AI companies like OpenAI.
