A U.S. federal judge has ordered Alphabet's Google to limit all contracts for its default search engine and AI app placements to a one-year term. The ruling, handed down by Judge Amit Mehta of the D.C. District Court, is a major development in the ongoing antitrust case against the tech giant and directly targets the long-term agreements that have secured Google's dominance on billions of devices worldwide. This decision compels Google to annually renegotiate its lucrative default-placement deals with major device manufacturers, including Apple and Samsung. The ruling is intended to foster greater competition by giving rivals a more frequent opportunity to bid for the valuable default positions on smartphones and other platforms, potentially disrupting a key part of Google's business model.