Business
Google avoids break-up but must share data with rivals
Lily JamaliNorth America Technology Correspondent, San Francisco and
Rachel ClunBusiness reporter, BBC News
ReutersGoogle will not have to sell its Chrome web browser but must share information with competitors, a US federal judge has ordered.
The remedies decided by District Judge Amit Mehta have emerged after a years-long court battle over Google’s dominance in online search.
The case centred around Google’s position as the default search engine on a range of its own products such as Android and Chrome as well as others made by the likes of Apple.
The US Department of Justice had demanded that Google sell Chrome – Tuesday’s decision means the tech giant can keep it but it will be barred from having exclusive contracts and must share search data with rivals.
Google had proposed less drastic solutions, such as limiting its revenue-sharing agreements with firms like Apple to make its search engine the default on their devices and browsers.
On Tuesday, the company indicated that it viewed the ruling as a victory, and said the rise of artificial intelligence (AI) probably contributed to the outcome.
“Today’s decision recognizes how much the industry has changed through the advent of AI, which is giving people so many more ways to find information,” Google said in a statement after the ruling.
“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,” the statement continued.
The tech giant had denied wrongdoing since charges were first filed against it in 2020, saying its market dominance is because its search engine is a superior product to others and consumers simply prefer it to others.
Last year, Judge Mehta ruled that Google had used unfair methods to establish a monopoly over the online search market, actively working to maintain a level of dominance to the extent it broke US law.
But in his decision, Judge Mehta said a complete sell-off of Chrome was “a poor fit for this case”.
Google will also not have to sell off its Android operating system, which powers most of the world’s smartphones.
The company had argued that off-loading parts of its operations, such as Android, would mean they would effectively stop working properly.
“Today’s remedy order agreed with the need to restore competition to the long-monopolized search market, and we are now weighing our options and thinking through whether the ordered relief goes far enough in serving that goal,” Assistant Attorney General Abigail Slater wrote on X after the ruling.
Shares in Alphabet, Google’s parent company, jumped by more than 8% after the ruling.
Smartphone-makers such as Apple, Samsung and Motorola will also benefit.
Before the ruling, Google paid such firms billions of dollars to exclusively pre-load or promote the tech company’s products.
It was revealed at trial that Google paid more than $26bn for such deals with Apple, Mozilla and others in 2021.
Now, Google will not be allowed to enter into any exclusive contracts for Google Search, Chrome, Google Assistant or the Gemini app.
It means phone manufacturers will be free to pre-load or promote other search engines, browsers or AI assistants alongside Google’s.
Gene Munster, managing partner at Deepwater Asset Management, said the ruling was “good news for big tech”.
“Apple also gets a nice win because the ruling forces Google to renegotiate the search deal annually,” he said on X.
Judge Mehta’s ruling “doesn’t seem to be as draconian as the market was expecting,” said Melissa Otto, head of research at S&P Global Visible Alpha.
With Google’s search operation expected to generate close to $200bn this year, and tens of billions of that expected to go to distribution partners it is a win-win for the major corporate players involved in the case, Ms Otto said.
The decision is not the end of the tech giant’s court battles.
Later this month, Google is scheduled to go to trial in a separate case brought by the justice department where a judge found the company holds illegal monopolies in online advertising technology.
Business
Stock Market Update: Sensex Rises Over 50 Points, Nifty Above 25,250; Eternal, Sun Pharma Gain 2% Each
Last Updated:
A day after Indian equity markets witnessed heavy selling pressure, benchmark indices are likely to open marginally higher on Wednesday
Stock Market Today
A day after Indian equity markets witnessed heavy selling pressure, benchmark indices are likely to open marginally higher on Wednesday. However, sentiment remains cautious as global cues continue to stay weak amid escalating geopolitical tensions.
The early indicator of market direction, GIFT Nifty, was trading 0.05 percent higher at around 8:00 AM.
Trading on Dalal Street is expected to remain stock-specific with the Q3 earnings season in full swing. Companies such as Eternal, Dr Reddy’s Laboratories, Hindustan Petroleum and PNB Housing Finance are scheduled to announce their quarterly results today.
Rupee At Record Low
The Indian rupee opened at a record low of 91.07 against the US dollar on Wednesday.
Global cues
Asian markets extended their losses on Wednesday, weighed down by renewed geopolitical concerns after the US President issued fresh warnings to European nations over the Greenland issue. Japan’s Nikkei slipped 0.35 percent after government bond yields rebounded, a day after a sharp selloff.
Trump has imposed a 10 percent tariff on eight European countries, effective February 1, with the rate set to rise to 25 percent in June, after they opposed his plans to acquire Greenland.
Overnight, Wall Street recorded its worst session since April last year, according to Bloomberg, with market volatility touching its highest level since November. Both the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq ended more than 2 percent lower.
The spotlight this week remains on the World Economic Forum in Davos, where global leaders have raised concerns over the dominance of “superpowers”. Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney, in a key address, said the “rules-based international order” is effectively dead.
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January 21, 2026, 09:11 IST
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Snapchat’s parent Snap has settled a social media addiction lawsuit just days before the landmark case was due to go to trial in Los Angeles.
Terms of the deal were not announced as it was revealed by lawyers at a California Superior Court hearing, after which Snap told the BBC the parties were “pleased to have been able to resolve this matter in an amicable manner”.
Other defendants in the case include Instagram parent Meta, ByteDance’s TikTok and Alphabet’s YouTube, none of which have settled.
The plaintiff, a 19-year old woman identified by the initials K.G.M., alleged that the algorithmic design of the platforms left her addicted and affected her mental health.
In the absence of a settlement with the other parties, the trial is scheduled to go forward against the remaining three defendants, with jury selection due to begin on 27 January.
Meta boss Mark Zuckerberg is expected to testify, and until Tuesday’s settlement, Snap CEO Evan Spiegel was also set to take the stand.
Meta, TikTok and Alphabet did not respond to BBC inquiries seeking reaction to the settlement.
Snap is still a defendant in other social media addiction cases that have been consolidated in the court.
The closely watched cases could challenge a legal theory that social media companies have used to shield themselves.
They have long argued that Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act of 1996 protects them from liability for what third parties post on their platforms.
But plaintiffs argue that the platforms are designed in a way that leaves users addicted through choices that affect their algorithms and notifications.
The social media companies have said the plaintiffs’ evidence falls short of proving that they are responsible for alleged harms such as depression and eating disorders.
Adverts for five tanning companies have been banned for making misleading and irresponsible claims about the safety of sunbeds.
Ads for tanning studios The Sun Company, SunShine Co and Tanbox Towcester, as well as for Tan & Deliver Home Hire Sunbeds and Byrokko, which sells products to accelerate tanning, made “a number of problematic claims” about safety, the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) said.
Their misleading and irresponsible claims included that sunbed use is safe or that tanning can be achieved safely, and that sunbeds could boost vitamin D, improve mood and energy levels, and treat health conditions such as seasonal affective disorder (SAD), psoriasis and eczema.
The ASA said it found the ads using its AI-powered Active Ad Monitoring system.
The watchdog said the rulings come amid public health concerns about the risks of ultraviolet (UV) exposure and the continued popularity of tanning, with some experts highlighting the role of social media in promoting and normalising sunbed use.
Long-standing advice from the NHS and Cancer Research UK says there is no safe or healthy way to get a tan using UV radiation.
Cancer Research UK warns that sunbeds use high-intensity UV radiation for quick tanning which can damage the DNA in skin cells. This can lead to skin cancer, including melanoma, which is the most serious type.
Too much UV radiation is the third biggest cause of cancer and the main cause of skin cancer in the UK.
The ASA said the ads for all five firms were irresponsible and likely to mislead people for downplaying the risks or presenting tanning as beneficial to health.
Some of the ads also implied that sunbeds could be used to help manage medical conditions, which risked discouraging people from seeking appropriate medical advice or treatment, it added.
All five advertisers have been told the banned ads must not appear again, and that future advertising must not suggest that sunbeds are safe, provide health benefits or can be used to treat medical conditions.
The ASA’s regulatory projects manager, Jess Tye, said: “Given the serious dangers of UV exposure, it’s vital that ads for sunbeds don’t suggest that they’re safe or offer health benefits.
“These rulings demonstrate that information about health in ads must be clear, accurate and responsible.
“Protecting people from misleading or irresponsible ads is at the heart of our work and we’ll take action where ads break the rules by putting people at risk.”
All five firms have been approached for comment.
The Sun Company said: “We acknowledge the ASA’s ruling in relation to an early social media post made shortly after opening. The specific content referenced in the ruling has been removed, and we have reviewed our advertising practices to ensure full compliance going forward.
“Customer transparency and regulatory compliance are important to us.”
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