Google Antitrust Remedy: Judge Limits Default Search Contracts to One-Year Term

On 9 December 2025, in response to the U.S. Department of Justice’s antitrust lawsuit against Google, federal judge Amit Mehta issued a broader set of remedies stating that any future contracts requiring device manufacturers to set Google’s search or AI services as default must be limited to a one-year term.

The ruling means Google will be compelled to renegotiate agreements annually, a significant shift from multi-year deals such as its multibillion-dollar arrangement with Apple that makes Google Search the default on the iPhone. According to Bloomberg, Mehta argued that a one-year limit would push Google back to the negotiating table regularly, creating a more equitable competitive landscape for rivals such as Microsoft’s Bing or DuckDuckGo.

The decision followed a September ruling that Google would not be required to divest its Chrome browser business, with the court preferring behavioural remedies over structural breakup. Beyond shortening contract durations, the judge also struck down exclusivity arrangements and required Google to share certain search data with competitors to narrow the scale gap and improve competition.