Judge Dismisses Antitrust Suits Over Google AI Overviews
A federal judge rejected lawsuits from Penske Media and Chegg alleging that Google’s AI search features unlawfully divert traffic and revenue from their sites.
A federal judge has dismissed antitrust lawsuits brought by Penske Media Corporation and education technology company Chegg over Google’s AI Overviews. Both companies alleged that Google’s AI-powered search features use publishers’ content while drawing visitors away from their websites. Judge Amit Mehta found that their claims did not establish a violation of antitrust law, according to Engadget and The Verge.
Table of Contents
What the publishers alleged
Penske Media, the parent company of Rolling Stone, and Chegg filed their lawsuits last year, The Verge reports. They argued that Google used its position in search to obtain content for AI Overviews without paying publishers, while presenting answers that reduced the need for users to visit the sites that supplied the material. Both companies said the resulting loss of traffic damaged their revenue.
Chegg also alleged that websites faced a choice between allowing Google to use their content for AI features and losing visibility in search results, according to Engadget. That alleged pressure was central to the publishers’ argument that Google was using its search power to gain an unfair advantage.
Why the judge dismissed the cases
Mehta concluded that the lawsuits had not adequately connected the alleged harm to an antitrust violation. As Engadget explains the ruling, the companies did not convincingly show that Google used its search monopoly to compel them to provide free material for AI or to secure an unlawful advantage in digital publishing.
The judge distinguished publishers’ hopes of receiving visitors from Google Search from an agreement requiring Google to send them traffic. The Verge reports that Mehta acknowledged publishers’ difficult position but said antitrust law could not take the place of legislation addressing the economic effects of new technology.
Mehta also ruled in 2024 that Google maintained a monopoly in online search services, Engadget notes. That earlier finding did not, in his view, make the claims in these two AI Overviews lawsuits sufficient under antitrust law.
The wider publisher dispute
The dismissal does not settle publishers’ broader concerns about AI search. Engadget reports that publishers can keep pages out of AI Overviews while retaining their listings in traditional search results, although AI features occupy an increasing share of the results page. That available option differs from the exclusion risk Chegg alleged in its lawsuit.
The Verge reports that publishers are continuing to see traffic declines as Google changes its search products. It also cites a report from The Information that Google is paying around 100 publishers in a pilot program involving contributions to AI Overviews, AI Mode and Gemini. The reports do not say that the pilot changes the outcome of the Penske Media and Chegg cases.
Sources
This story was compiled by AI from the reports below. Read the originals for the full details.