Following the preservation of Chrome and Android, the court also leaves Google free to enter into agreements to set the default search engine in third-party browsers, such as those with Apple and Mozilla, The Verge reports.
Google is reportedly paying Apple $26 billion to make Google Search the default search engine in Safari. For Mozilla, which makes Firefox, the deal is critical to its survival, and without it, the company would lose a lion's share of its revenue.
"Google will not be barred from making payments or offering other consideration to distribution partners for preloading or placement of Google Search, Chrome, or its GenAI products," Judge Amit Mehta wrote. "Cutting off payments from Google almost certainly will impose substantial—in some cases, crippling—downstream harms to distribution partners, related markets, and consumers, which counsels against a broad payment ban."
The court also ruled that Google will not be required to display a default browser or search engine selection screen on its products. At the same time, the company will now have to share some search data with competitors to reduce the advantage gained from exclusivity agreements.