Overview
- Google filed its appeal with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit on May 22, 2026, asking the court to overturn the 2024 finding that it unlawfully maintained a search monopoly.
- In the filing Google argues the district court misapplied the law and says its position as Safari’s default came from superior product and lawful competition rather than exclusionary conduct.
- Google specifically asks the appeals court to vacate the remedies that require it to share search logs, user‑interaction information, and syndicated results with rivals and to exclude generative‑AI companies from receiving that data.
- The district court’s remedies remain on the books but are not operational because the five‑member Technical Committee has not set license terms, privacy safeguards, or rules for which firms qualify to get the data.
- The dispute centers on large default payments and market power—court evidence showed Apple got about 36% of Safari search ad revenue and Google paid roughly $20 billion in 2022—and the appeal will determine how default deals, ad revenue splits, and AI access to search data are governed.