"There is an Orwellian irony to the proposition that in order to get relief for a company's alleged surreptitious monitoring of users' mobile device and web activity, a person has to allow the company unfettered access to inspect his mobile device or his web browsing history," the judge wrote.

"Vermont's attempts to revive ... a repealed regulatory regime are plainly preempted by federal law," five associations state in a new lawsuit.

"Google must be more forthcoming with the public and lawmakers if the company is to maintain or regain the trust of the users of its services," GOP Senators John Thune (South Dakota), Roger Wicker (Mississippi), and Jerry Moran (Kansas) say in a letter sent Thursday to CEO Sundar Pichai.

The Department of Justice is bringing a "first of its kind" criminal antitrust prosecution involving companies that may have gamed online search algorithms in order to fix prices.