Google avoids breakup in search monopoly case, but judge orders other changes in landmark ruling

SAN FRANCISCO – A federal judge on Tuesday ordered a major makeover of Google’s search engine in a crackdown aimed at curbing the corrosive power of an illegal monopoly, but rebuffed the U.S. government’s request to break up the company.

The 226-page decision made by U.S. District Judge Amit Mehta in Washington, D.C., will likely ripple across the technological landscape at a time when the industry is being reshaped by artificial intelligence breakthroughs — including conversational “answer engines” as companies like ChatGPT and Perplexity try to upend Google’s long-held position as the internet’s main gateway.

Mehta is trying to rein in Google by placing new restraints on some of the tactics the company deployed to drive traffic to its search engine and other services. But the judge st