Google's Two Bad Days — One Legal, One Embarrassing

Friday, May 22, 2026 was not a good day to be Google's PR department.

On one front, the company officially filed its appeal of Judge Amit Mehta's August 2024 ruling that declared Google an illegal search monopolist. On another front, its flashy new AI search product — just rolled out this week — couldn't correctly respond to the word 'disregard' without acting like a confused customer service bot.

Two separate problems. One common thread: Google is scrambling.

The Appeal: 'Fair and Square'

Google's legal argument, filed Friday and reported by The Verge, is essentially this — we won because we're better, not because we cheated.

'Google just prevailed in the marketplace fair and square,' the company wrote in its appeal brief. Google VP of regulatory affairs Lee-Anne Mulholland called Mehta's ruling 'flawed' and said partners and users 'choose Google because it provides the best, most helpful results.'

Google is contesting two things: the original August 2024 monopoly finding, AND the September 2025 remedies order. That remedies order required Google to share search data with competitors.

Google's argument against the data-sharing order deserves scrutiny. The company objects to sharing data with generative AI companies that it says 'did not even exist during the relevant period' and are already 'succeeding as wildly as any technology in human history.' That's a legitimate legal point — you can't remedy harm to a party that wasn't harmed.

What's missing from most coverage: the U.S. Department of Justice AND a coalition of states are ALSO appealing Mehta's decision — arguing he didn't go far enough. So both sides think the judge got it wrong. That's unusual. And it tells you this case is far from over.

The Real Antitrust Question Nobody's Asking

Mainstream tech media is framing this as David vs. Goliath — plucky government regulators versus Big Tech evil empire. But the harder question is whether the remedy actually makes sense.

Forcing Google to hand its search index data to competitors — including AI companies like OpenAI and Perplexity — is NOT a straightforward fix. It could hand a massive competitive advantage to companies that built nothing themselves. That's not justice. That's redistribution.

At the same time, Google paying $26.3 billion in 2021 alone (according to prior court findings) to be the default search engine on Apple devices and others is NOT 'winning fair and square.' That's buying the starting position. Big difference.

The remedy may be flawed AND Google's conduct was anticompetitive. Courts — and the press — need to grapple with both.

Meanwhile, the New AI Search Can't Handle 'Disregard'

Earlier this week, Google debuted a completely overhauled search experience foregrounding AI-generated summaries — called AI Overviews — while pushing traditional 'ten blue links' way down the page, according to TechCrunch.

By Friday, it was already broken in a revealing way.

Type the word 'disregard' into Google Search and instead of a definition or useful result, the AI Overview responds like a chatbot that thinks you're starting a conversation. The Verge documented responses like 'Got it! Let me know if you need help with anything else.' Type 'ignore' and get: 'Message received! I'm here and ready to help.' Type 'skip' and get a message suggesting your search 'was just a test or a typo.'

The AI is interpreting these words as commands — not queries. It's treating the user like it's a chat interface, not a search engine.

The Verge's Russell Brandom noted that on May 22, 2026, Bing search for 'disregard' returned a Merriam-Webster definition without drama. Google returned an empty chatbot response.

The Bigger Problem: Google Is Cannibalizing Its Own Product

The Verge's David Pierce described it correctly after Google I/O this week — this is the 'post-search Google era.' Google's AI agents are now doing the searching FOR you, proactively, sometimes without you asking.

That might sound impressive. But it creates a fundamental product identity crisis. If AI does the searching, websites don't get traffic. If websites don't get traffic, they stop producing content. If content stops, the AI has nothing to learn from.

And apparently, right now, the AI can't even handle a one-word query without malfunctioning.

Google is betting its entire future on AI at the exact moment it's legally fighting to preserve its search monopoly. The DOJ is trying to break up Google's search dominance while Google itself is trying to make search irrelevant.

What This Means for You

If you use Google Search — and roughly 90% of internet users do — your experience is actively changing right now. The AI Overviews are front and center. The bugs are real. And the company is in a multi-year legal battle that could force it to share its data with competitors, restructure its business, or both.

The appeals court won't rule overnight. This fight likely runs into 2027 or beyond.

In the meantime, the product you rely on to find information is breaking on the word 'disregard.'

Not a great look for a company arguing it won the internet 'fair and square.'