The U.S. government and a large group of states have filed a cross-appeal that keeps pressure on Google’s search business and its default search deals, including the one with Apple. The filing challenges parts of the final antitrust ruling and opens the door for tougher limits on how Google stays the default search engine on phones and browsers.
Reuters reported that the Department of Justice and state attorneys general are appealing parts of U.S. District Judge Amit Mehta’s 2024 ruling. While the judge said Google held a monopoly in online search, he rejected the strongest remedies, including forcing Google to sell Chrome or banning payments to Apple.
The new filing asks the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit to review the final judgment entered on December 5, 2025. By filing a cross-appeal, regulators are not only defending the ruling against Google’s own appeal. They are also challenging the parts they believe let Google keep too much power.
Apple Google deal is under pressure
Google pays Apple to remain the default search engine in Safari on iPhone and iPad. That deal has become a major source of revenue for Apple’s services business. In past court records, the payment reached about $20 billion in at least one recent year.
Regulators say these default deals steer users to Google before they make any real choice. They argue that this setup reinforces Google’s dominance in search. Judge Mehta agreed Google had monopoly power, but stopped short of banning the Apple deal.
The cross appeal keeps that issue alive. Regulators want the court to reconsider whether Google should be allowed to keep paying partners like Apple to lock in default placement.
Google is also appealing the ruling and has asked the court to pause an order that would force it to share data with rivals during the appeal. That process will take months.
The appeals court will now decide whether the final remedies went far enough. The outcome will shape Google’s search business and the future of its multibillion-dollar deal with Apple.
