Alphabet Inc. shares rose nearly 6 per cent in premarket trading Wednesday after a court ruling that investors saw as largely favourable for Google.

The United States Department of Justice had sought major remedies in its antitrust case, filed in September 2023, including forcing Google to divest its Chrome browser.

Although a federal judge previously found Google had illegally monopolised the internet search market, U.S. District Judge Amit Mehta rejected the DOJ’s most extreme proposals.

The ruling allows Google to keep Chrome and continue paying companies, including Apple to preload its products, while banning exclusive contracts that tie payments or licensing to preloaded arrangements.

Wall Street broadly sees Tuesday’s ruling from Judge Amit Mehta as a win for Big Tech.

“The regulator’s bark is bigger than the bite,” Deepwater Asset Management Managing Partner Gene Munster posts to X after the ruling is handed down.

This secures Google’s lucrative agreement to remain the default search engine on iPhones.