It’s not how it starts but how it ends. If Google is having a Christmas dinner, that might be a good phrase to sum up what your year has been like as you raise your glass in a toast. And the Mountain View-based company began 2025 with several dark clouds on the horizon that threatened both its present and its hegemony for the future. But of course, it seems Google still has some time left.
Google entered 2025 knowing that it had three major legal battles ahead that could end up amputating precious members like Chrome or its advertising business, with OpenAI in the rearview mirror in the AI race and a troublesome new US president to adapt to. However, Google has not only emerged victorious, but has also managed to maintain the status quo of your structure (for now) and has emerged as the most cutting-edge AI company there is. And furthermore, the accounts come out: is breaking profit records. What has Google done to change its 2025 like this?
Being in Google’s shoes in January of this year was not easy. Going through the courts was inevitable and the consequences were potentially devastating for their main sources of income. Declared a monopoly, there were possibilities before it such as the forced sale of Chrome. He also had to give explanations for anti-competitive practices in advertising and his battle with Epic Games It could have resulted in the drastic reduction of commissions in the Play Store on Android, opening the doors to other payment methods and third-party stores. Facing the Justice Department of Trump’s new era was not the best of scenarios either: it is not the first time that the new US president is critical of Google.
AI has made them leave their comfort zone. After years of dominating with its combination of Google and Chrome, today the focus has been on artificial intelligence and here it could not be left out, among other things, because it is disrupting its search business. ChatGPT launched a new long-distance race, that of AI, where it started behind technologically speaking and has had to face new and old rivals: the veterans Microsoft and Meta, but also OpenAI and Anthropic. Billions of investment in R&D&I and data centers just to try to keep up.
Google has made a huge bet with AI in every way with the hope that it ends up: 1. being profitable. 2. being one of the companies that survive to benefit from it. Because AI is in this phase of filming and expansion and is anything but profitable. And he is risking everything, even cannibalizing his goose that lays the golden eggs: his search business. However, its position is privileged: it has enormous economic muscle, an entire ecosystem and sectors where it leads.
This 2025 the wolf was coming for Google, but it was not like that:
- You have avoided the sale of Chrome. Yes, the judge ruled that Google was a search monopoly, but he did not uphold the Justice Department’s most critical move. The DOJ defended that separating Google from its browser would eliminate one of the company’s great ways to attract users and direct them to its search engine. And be careful, because there was no shortage of buyers. The judge considered that this operation would be “incredibly complex and very risky.” It also allowed Google to continue paying Apple to ensure the prominent presence of its search products. But it did not emerge unscathed: the ruling requires it to share data with competitors (once, not continuously) and to limit exclusive contracts.
- The future of your advertising business is an unknown. Google yes lost its other big antitrust trial and here the DOJ wants to force you to sell your advertising exchange market and your Ad Manager tool. However, the judge’s predisposition seems to indicate that there will be an agreement that brings a change in behavior before touching the structure of Google, a slower process that could be delayed longer with an appeal from the company licensed by Sundar Pichai.
- Your (eternal) dispute with Epic. Google lost the case two years ago and this summer it was defeated again… and appealed again. Of course, along the way it has had to allow alternative payment methods and list alternative app stores. As in the previous case, Google hopes to soften the measures: for now it has already negotiated with Epic to reduce commissions and add a new category of registered app stores. Furthermore, it will do so globally. This is decided next month and if it goes ahead, Android will change but Google will still have control. It is not trivial, considering that a new operating system for PC based on Android will arrive in 2026.
With Trump, a clean slate. The Mountain View company has had to use diplomacy and open its wallet. It should be remembered that after the capitol incident, Google banned Trump’s account from YouTube. Well, the president of the United States sued them and this year the soap opera has come to an end with YouTube paying 22 million dollars to close the agreement. On the other hand, Google was among the big tech companies that financially supported at the inauguration of the current president of the United States.
If Google has had to defend itself in court, in technology it has gone on the attack. We could talk about the advances of the Pixel (which there have been), but the hardware It is not the company’s priority at all.
Google has had a fantastic year in AI both in data and in story. Because with AI it is not enough to be the best, you also have to lead the conversation. Its video generator Veo 3 took over social networks, Nano Banana (and later, its Pro version) has starred in trends such as become a Stranger Things character either in an action figure. But it’s not just fashion: it’s that its video models, images and, ultimately, Gemini 3 They are so good that it is said that OpenAI has pressed the red button.
Giving people talk and making quality models is very good, but innovation in artificial intelligence is expensive and companies do not live on air. Well, to Nvidia’s business is becoming better than cinema. Meanwhile, OpenAI or Anthropic are attracting investors while they think about a profitable tomorrow.
Google is prepared for a long-distance race– You have a stable income stream as you progress on this adventure. The results Alphabet’s third quarter reports more than $100 billion in revenue and $31 billion in profit. By the way, most of it comes from advertising, although the 15 billion for Google Cloud are a green shoot of AI in their accounts.
On the other hand, it is worth remembering that Google has been designing its TPUs for Google Cloud for years and with its seventh generation for the first time it will sell it to other companies, including Anthropic for its AI. Of course, in this market It is light years away from Nvidiabut it is another way to profit from artificial intelligence that is already paying a lot to the company led by Jensen Huang.
While it is true that neither in the AI battle has the competition said the last word nor are the trials yet final, with possible appeals and measures to be taken, Google has dodged many bullets this 2025 and has made many right decisions to start next year intact and earning more money than ever. But it’s not how it starts, it’s how it ends.
Cover | Photo of Adarsh Chauhan in Unsplash
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