Google is about to cease being the default.

Google dominates almost the entire online search market. Photo: Bloomberg .

According to a federal judge's ruling, Google could lose its default position for its search engine or artificial intelligence on smartphones and other devices. Alphabet, the company's parent, will have to renegotiate any related contracts annually.

Previously, the US Department of Justice declared Google to have an illegal monopoly in the online search field. According to Bloomberg , Judge Amit Mehta in Washington recently sided with the agency.

The final ruling still allows Google to supply products to Apple for use on iPhones and continue paying electronics manufacturers like Samsung to make them the default. However, the judge required those contracts to be renegotiated annually.

The judge stated that both parties agreed that the default contract could only last a maximum of one year. This would create opportunities for competitors, especially companies in the rapidly growing field of AI generation, to compete for key default positions.

Following a 10-week trial, Mehta concluded in August 2024 that Google had illegally monopolized the online search and search advertising markets. He then held a second trial in early 2025 to consider the Justice Department's request that Google be forced to sell its popular Chrome web browser.

Mehta rejected that request and instead ruled in September 2025 that Google must share some of the data that underpins its search results with competitors. The most recent decision on December 5th expanded this ruling, specifying the particular cases and individuals the company must share with.

In his September ruling, Mehta argued that Google was no longer permitted to pay companies for exclusive use of its search engine, Chrome browser, or Google Play store. However, he declined to ban all forms of payment entirely. That ruling incorporated part of a proposal from Google and the Department of Justice, leading him to issue a second ruling to clarify the technical terms in the first decision.

Google said it plans to appeal Mehta's initial ruling, which found that contracts requiring companies like Apple and Samsung to set Google's search engine as the default on their browsers and phones violated U.S. antitrust laws. The Justice Department may also seek to appeal Mehta's decision on the remedy.

According to Statista data from 2025, Google holds nearly 80% of the search market share on desktop computers, and approximately 90% across all devices such as phones, tablets, etc. With this level of coverage, many websites, businesses, and digital advertisers rely on Google to reach users.