Legal rulings against the largest technology companies are no longer occasional headlines. In the space of a few months in 2025, US federal courts found that Google had illegally maintained monopolies in both online search and advertising technology, an appeals court upheld a major verdict against its app store, and European regulators began enforcing the Digital Markets Act with fines. Each decision changes how the platforms operate, and those changes flow through to every business that buys ads, distributes apps, or relies on platform data.
For most organizations the practical question is not whether these rulings are fair. It is which of your costs, channels and contracts depend on platform rules that are now being rewritten, and what you should do about it. This article summarizes the key decisions as of September 2025 and turns them into a short preparation checklist.
The Google search remedies ruling
In August 2024 Judge Amit Mehta of the US District Court for the District of Columbia ruled that Google had unlawfully maintained a monopoly in general search, in large part through exclusive deals that paid Apple, Samsung, browser makers and wireless carriers to make Google the default search engine.
On September 2, 2025 he issued his remedies decision. He declined the Justice Department’s request to force Google to sell its Chrome browser or Android. Instead, he barred Google from entering exclusive contracts for the distribution of Search, Chrome, Google Assistant and its Gemini app, and required it to share certain search index and user-interaction data with qualified competitors. Google may still pay partners for default placement, as long as those deals are not exclusive. The court pointed to the rise of generative AI competitors as one reason to prefer lighter-touch remedies.
For businesses, the direct effects are gradual. Rival search and AI assistant providers may gain access to data that helps them compete, which over time could diversify where customers discover products and services. Marketing teams should expect search to become a more fragmented channel rather than a single-platform one.
Advertising technology and app stores
In April 2025 Judge Leonie Brinkema in Virginia ruled in a separate Justice Department case that Google had illegally monopolized two markets in the advertising technology stack: the publisher ad server and the ad exchange that connects publishers with advertisers. A remedies trial was scheduled for September 2025, with the government seeking a divestiture of Google’s AdX exchange.
App distribution is changing too. In July 2025 the Ninth Circuit upheld the jury verdict in Epic Games v. Google, keeping in place an injunction that requires Google to allow rival app stores and alternative payment options on Android in the United States. Companies that sell subscriptions or digital goods through Android apps may be able to lower fees by steering customers to other payment methods, subject to the final implementation.
Europe’s Digital Markets Act
In Europe the regulation comes through legislation rather than litigation. The Digital Markets Act designates the largest platforms as “gatekeepers” and imposes up-front obligations, including bans on self-preferencing, requirements to allow alternative app stores and payment options, and data portability for business users. In April 2025 the European Commission issued the first non-compliance decisions, fining Apple 500 million euros and Meta 200 million euros. It has also issued preliminary findings against Google over self-preferencing in search and restrictions on steering in Google Play.
The DMA matters to US businesses that sell into Europe because it gives them new rights: access to data generated on gatekeeper platforms, the ability to offer customers deals outside the app store, and a formal complaint route if a platform does not comply.
What these rulings mean for innovation and competition
Supporters argue the rulings open markets that had become closed, lowering costs for advertisers and developers and giving new entrants, including AI companies, a fair chance at distribution. Critics argue that heavy intervention can slow product development and weaken security and privacy features that depend on tight platform control. Both effects are possible, and the outcome depends heavily on how remedies are implemented and enforced over the next several years.
What is clear is that regulatory oversight of technology is intensifying rather than slowing down, and the rules are increasingly technical: data-sharing formats, default choice screens, interoperability requirements and audit obligations. That makes compliance an operational issue, not just a legal one.
How to prepare for the compliance shifts
- Map platform dependencies. List the channels where a single platform controls your costs or customer access: search advertising, app stores, cloud marketplaces and ad exchanges.
- Review contracts for exclusivity and defaults. Rulings that ban exclusivity may give you room to renegotiate or add alternative providers.
- Diversify discovery channels. As search fragments across traditional engines and AI assistants, invest in content and structured data that work across them. Our article on generative engine optimization explains how.
- Revisit app payment models. If you sell digital goods through mobile apps, evaluate alternative payment and steering options as they become available.
- Assign regulatory tracking. Make one person responsible for following decisions that affect your platforms, and review the implications quarterly.
- Keep security in the loop. New app stores, payment flows and data-sharing interfaces create new attack surfaces. Evaluate them before adoption. Our overview of security policy updates covers related regulatory changes.
Update (September 2026): Shortly after this article was published, the European Commission fined Google 2.95 billion euros over its ad tech practices in September 2025. On September 2, 2026 Judge Brinkema rejected the Justice Department’s request to force a sale of AdX, ordering behavioral remedies instead. Appeals in the search and ad tech cases continue, so implementation timelines remain uncertain.
Frequently asked questions
Did the court order Google to sell Chrome?
No. The September 2025 remedies decision rejected a forced sale of Chrome and Android. It instead banned exclusive distribution contracts and required Google to share certain search data with qualified competitors.
Do these rulings affect small businesses?
Indirectly, yes. Changes to default search deals, ad tech markets and app store payment rules can affect advertising costs, app fees and how customers find you. The effects arrive gradually as remedies are implemented.
Does the EU Digital Markets Act apply to US companies?
The obligations apply to the designated gatekeepers, several of which are US companies. Businesses of any nationality that use those platforms to reach EU customers can benefit from the rights the DMA creates, such as data access and alternative payment options.
Stay ahead of regulatory change
Delana Technologies helps organizations turn regulatory change into concrete controls and roadmaps through our cybersecurity compliance and regulatory framework services. To review how platform and technology rules affect your business, call 239.414.5126 or contact us.
Sources: United States v. Google LLC (D.D.C.), liability opinion (August 2024) and remedies opinion (September 2, 2025); United States v. Google LLC (E.D. Va.), liability opinion (April 17, 2025); Ninth Circuit decision in Epic Games v. Google (July 2025); European Commission DMA non-compliance decisions (April 2025) and ad tech decision (September 2025); Al Jazeera, “US judge rejects bid to break up Google’s ad business” (September 2026).