Google wins dismissal of Chegg, Penske Media lawsuits over AI overviews
A U.S. federal judge dismissed antitrust lawsuits by Chegg and Penske Media alleging Google used their content in AI-generated search summaries that reduced traffic to their websites. The judge said their claims did not establish an agreement requiring Google to send them search traffic.
1. Judge dismisses lawsuits
U.S. District Judge Amit Mehta in Washington dismissed lawsuits by Chegg and Penske Media that accused Google of violating antitrust law by using their content in AI overviews. The companies alleged they lost revenue as the summaries drew readers away from their websites.
2. Claims and ruling
Chegg and Penske said Google required publishers to allow AI overviews of their content if they wanted to remain indexed in search results. Mehta wrote that an expectation of receiving search traffic was not an agreement, and said antitrust laws do not substitute for legislators’ power to address economic harm from innovation.
3. Google denies wrongdoing
Google denied wrongdoing and argued it had no obligation to index publishers’ content on their preferred terms. The judge said he was not unsympathetic to publishers whose content Google takes and repurposes without compensation; he rejected similar claims by another publisher in March.
