Court dismisses Chegg and Penske Media lawsuits against Google
The judge noted the harm cited by publishers in connection with AI answers in search, but found that they had not shown a violation of antitrust law. At the same time, the rates Google pays some websites for content used by AI came to light.
Federal Judge Amit P. Mehta of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia dismissed on September 30 the antitrust lawsuits brought by education company Chegg and publisher Penske Media Corporation (owner of, among others, “Rolling Stone” and “Variety”) against Google. The cases concerned AI Overviews, summaries generated by artificial intelligence above search results. In Penske's case, the lawsuit was dismissed without prejudice, meaning without deciding the merits of the claim itself. The ruling is final and may be appealed.
The court rejected five categories of claims. It found that publishers' mere expectation of traffic from Google in exchange for free access to content is not a contract. The publishers also lacked standing to challenge Google's monopoly in search. Penske did not show that search and AI Overviews are separate products, and both companies failed to define the markets that Google was allegedly monopolizing. The federal court did not hear unjust enrichment claims under California law.
As reported by Search Engine Journal (opens in a new tab), Mehta noted in the reasoning that he does not dismiss the harm to publishers or the effects on journalists, educators and creators whose content Google uses without compensation. Penske declined to comment, “The Hollywood Reporter” reported.
In the same week, The Information revealed details of a pilot in which Google pays about 100 publishers for content used in AI answers. Payments range from less than $1,000 over several months to more than $1 million a year. For several small and mid-sized websites, that is less than 0.1 percent of advertising revenue. Some participants do not know how the amounts are calculated.
The decline in search traffic is already measurable. According to a Reuters Institute report based on Chartbeat data, organic traffic from Google to more than 2,500 news websites fell by 33 percent between November 2024 and November 2025. The authors note that algorithm changes also have an impact, not just AI.
The ruling does not change the rules for displaying AI answers in Google, so companies dependent on search traffic cannot count on a quick change of the rules by the courts.