Google’s Antitrust Loss Now Feels a Lot Like Winning: Dave Lee

Something close to the best-case scenario emerged for Google on Tuesday when a federal judge outlined its punishments for running an illegal search monopoly. The company will not be forced to sell its Chrome browser or Android operating system. There will be no hampering of its artificial-intelligence efforts. It can even still shovel billions of dollars a year to Apple Inc. to help attract search traffic from iPhone users if it wants.

The ruling confirmed the fears of those who felt these antitrust proceedings, groundbreaking as they were, simply came too late. Judge Amit Mehta’s remedies are an attempt to level a playing field in ...