On September 30, 2026, US District Judge Amit P. Mehta dismissed antitrust lawsuits filed by Chegg Inc. and Penske Media Corp. against Google. The publishers challenged the AI Overviews feature, arguing that Google uses their content for AI summaries without compensation, which risks their search visibility.
Judge Mehta ruled that the plaintiffs failed to prove the existence of an actual agreement between them and Google. He stated that an expectation of receiving search traffic in exchange for allowing content to be crawled does not constitute a legal contract under antitrust law.
Penske Media reported that its organic affiliate revenue dropped by more than 33% from its peak through the end of 2024. Despite acknowledging the economic challenges faced by publishers, the judge noted that antitrust law cannot address these issues without specific legislative frameworks.
This decision marks the third time Judge Mehta has dismissed similar antitrust claims regarding Google’s AI features. While the ruling is final, the dismissal of the Penske case was issued without prejudice, meaning it can be appealed. Google remains under scrutiny following a 2024 ruling that found it monopolized general search.
