US District Judge Amit Mehta dismissed antitrust lawsuits brought by Chegg and Penske Media Corporation over Google’s AI-powered search features, The Verge reports. The ruling favors Google in a dispute over publishers’ content and the search traffic they receive in return.
Chegg and Penske, the parent company of Rolling Stone, alleged that Google used its monopoly power to force publishers to supply content for AI Overviews for free. Refusing, they argued, meant risking disappearance from search results. They said Google’s practices diverted visits and hurt revenue.
Why the traffic argument failed
Mehta rejected the idea that making content available created an agreement for Google to send traffic back. Publishers had pleaded an expectation of referrals, he wrote. “But an expectation is not an agreement.”
The judge acknowledged publishers’ economic predicament but said antitrust rules could not substitute for legislative decisions about the effects of new innovation. Mehta also ruled against Google in a separate landmark antitrust case in 2024.
The Verge discloses that it is part of Penske Media, one of the plaintiffs in the dismissed suits.
