Judge Saves Google Chrome – Alphabet share explodes

The share of Alphabet, the parent company of Google, made a striking jump on the stock exchange today. The reason is a surprising decision by an American court, which can have major consequences for the future of the gigantic tech company.

Judge rejects the split of Google Chrome

The US government had insisted on a split by Alphabet, where the company should sell, among other things, Google Chrome. That would benefit the competition on the market for browsers and search engines. The judge, however, resolutely wiped off the table, Reuters wrote.

According to the Ministry of Justice, Google abuses its market power to block competition. By smartly linking Chrome and other products, the company would make it virtually impossible for rivals, such as Microsoft Edge, Safari or Firefox. The government therefore wanted Google to repel certain parts, such as Chrome.

According to Judge Amit Mehta of the Washington DC court, the Ministry of Justice has not sufficiently demonstrated that there is monopolistic behavior. The ruling is seen as an important legal victory for Alphabet, which has been under a magnifying glass of supervisors worldwide for years.

Although Google does not have to be disposed of, the judge did forbade certain exclusive deals, for example with manufacturers who set Google as a standard search engine.

Europe is tackling Google

Alphabet is also under pressure from stricter regulations in Europe. With the introduction of the Digital Markets Act (DMA), the EU tries to limit the power of large tech companies and to make the competition more fair.

A concrete consequence of this, as you probably noticed, is that Google had to remove the direct integration of Google Maps in the search results. Users now no longer see map display on the results page if you are looking for a restaurant, for example. Instead, you must now manually open maps via the app or website.

Investors respond enthusiastically

The course of Alphabet (Googl) immediately shot up Wall Street after the statement. Since its low yesterday, the share closed 2.2 percent higher.

Also in the pre-market, the trade before the official opening of the stock market, the increase continues firmly. At the time of writing, the share records a plus of 6.70 percent, up to 225.41 dollars. Investors therefore clearly respond positively to the news.