Google was spared the worst possible judgment in its landmark antitrust case Tuesday: A judge allowed it to keep Chrome and Android under its fold and continue to pay tech companies to promote its search engine. That good news for Google is also good news for Apple.

Judge Amit Mehta on Tuesday ruled that Google cannot enter into exclusive agreements with companies, but it will be permitted to continue paying partners to distribute its services. That means it can still pay Apple billions – sums that were estimated to be $20 billion in 2022 alone – to cement itself as the iPhone maker’s default web browser search option.

As a result, Apple can continue raking in billions of dollars from Google while also dodging what would have likely been a daunting task affecting Apple’s most important p

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