Judge dismisses antitrust lawsuits against Google over AI Overviews
A US federal judge has dismissed antitrust lawsuits brought by Chegg and Penske Media Corporation accusing Google of harming publishers through its AI Overviews feature. The court found their claims did not meet antitrust law standards.
A US federal judge dismissed two antitrust lawsuits on Wednesday that had been filed against Google by education company Chegg and Penske Media Corporation (PMC), the parent company of Rolling Stone.
Both companies alleged in lawsuits filed last year that Google abused its monopoly power by pressuring publishers into supplying content for its AI Overviews feature for free, under threat of disappearing from search results. The publishers claimed this practice diverted traffic away from their websites and hurt their revenue.
The ruling
US District Judge Amit Mehta, who issued a landmark antitrust ruling against Google in 2024, sided with Google this time. He wrote that the plaintiffs had only demonstrated an "expectation" that Google would send them search traffic in exchange for making their content freely available, but that an expectation is not an agreement — it is simply how a general search engine works.
Mehta added that while the court is not unsympathetic to the situation publishers currently face, antitrust rules cannot substitute for a legislative response to the economic effects of new innovation.
Broader context
Publishers continue to feel the effects of Google's AI-driven search overhaul, with traffic to news outlets and smaller websites declining sharply. This week, The Information reported that Google is paying around 100 publishers for their contributions to AI Overviews, AI Mode, and Gemini as part of a pilot program.
The Verge is part of Penske Media, one of the companies involved in the dismissed lawsuit.
