GOOGLE share price plunges on traffic drop testimony…

A US Judge named Amit Mehta is set to decide on the actions Google should take following his significant ruling last year that Google is running an unlawful monopoly in online search. The stock of Google’s parent company, Alphabet, dropped over seven percent after an Apple executive revealed in court that Google’s search traffic on Apple devices decreased last month. Apple’s senior vice president of services, Eddy Cue, testified that Google’s search volume was being diverted to AI alternatives like ChatGPT and Perplexity. This shift in traffic is unprecedented in the last two decades, as quoted by Cue. The ongoing trial will determine the steps Google needs to take in response to the judge’s ruling. Cue’s statements have led to a $140 billion drop in Google’s market value since the close of trading on Wall Street. It was revealed in the trial that Google pays Apple billions of dollars annually in a revenue-sharing deal to have its search engine as the default on Apple’s Safari browser. Cue mentioned that they plan to introduce other AI options in the browser’s search engine choice over the next year, citing the improving quality of such products. The court case has highlighted the growing competition Google faces from AI chatbots in the online information retrieval space. US government attorneys are pushing for Google to divest its Chrome browser, arguing that AI will only strengthen the tech giant’s search dominance. Judge Mehta is expected to make a decision in August, which could include ending the payments from Google to Apple and others for the default search engine position. Cue expressed concerns in court that this move would impact Apple’s ability to invest in new products and services.