Tech giant Google (GOOGL) and the Department of Justice (DOJ) are, unsurprisingly, at odds over how to apply a recent court ruling that labeled Google’s search business as an illegal monopoly. Indeed, earlier this month, Judge Amit Mehta ruled that Google must end its exclusive search distribution contracts and share some data with rival search engines. However, he did not require Google to sell off Chrome or stop paying for search distribution deals, which the Justice Department had originally wanted.
Elevate Your Investing Strategy:
- Take advantage of TipRanks Premium at 50% off! Unlock powerful investing tools, advanced data, and expert analyst insights to help you invest with confidence.
As a result, on Wednesday night, both sides filed nearly 200 pages of proposals explaining how they believe the judge’s order should be enforced. The Justice Department argued that Google’s proposal left loopholes, such as letting it require phone makers to put Google Search on home screens or tying the installation of YouTube and Google Maps to exclusive use of its Gemini assistant. The DOJ said that these practices would clearly violate the judge’s order.
However, Google pushed back by claiming that the DOJ’s definition of generative AI is overly broad and would unfairly force the company to share data with too many competitors. Nevertheless, Judge Mehta must now decide the final terms. After that, both sides have the right to appeal. Interestingly, it is worth noting that Google has already said that it plans to appeal the original finding that it held an illegal monopoly, while the Justice Department has said it is still reviewing its options following the remedies ruling.
Is Google Stock a Good Buy?
Turning to Wall Street, analysts have a Strong Buy consensus rating on GOOGL stock based on 28 Buys and nine Holds assigned in the past three months. Furthermore, the average GOOGL price target of $235.97 per share implies 6.2% downside risk.
Source link
