Google defeats Ohio AG's bid to regulate search as common carrier

Client(s) Google LLC

Jones Day's client Google LLC won dismissal and summary judgment in a lawsuit filed by the Ohio Attorney General alleging that Google Search should be classified as a common carrier or public utility—a move that would have subjected Google to onerous Ohio regulation on how to operate its internet search function.

When the Attorney General sued Google in Ohio state court in 2021, this first-of-its-kind suit was a direct attack on not only Google in Ohio, but on Big Tech everywhere, as such a theory, if successful, would have broad appeal to other like-minded State Attorneys General and federal enforcement authorities. The lawsuit was widely covered by the national media, including a guest column by Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost in a prominent American daily newspaper.

Jones Day successfully moved to dismiss the public utility claim, but the case moved to discovery on the common carrier count. After document discovery, as well as fact and expert depositions, the parties filed competing motions for summary judgment. In 2025, the Ohio court granted Google's motion for summary judgment, holding that Google Search does not meet the elements of a common carrier because (i) it does not undertake to transport persons or property for hire, and (ii) it does not indifferently provide its search results. In light of those holdings, the court had no need to reach Google's preemption and First Amendment arguments.

Ohio v. Google LLC, No. 21-cvh-060274 (Ct. C.P. Delaware  Cty., Ohio)