The long-awaited Google monopoly trial finally came to an end on Monday with Judge Amit P. Mehta ruling that Google is guilty of violating antitrust regulations.
The lawsuit was filed by the DOJ and a group of US states in 2020, but the proceedings didn’t start until 2023.
Google has decided to appeal against the decision.
On Monday, Judge Amit P. Mehta of the US District Court for the District of Columbia ruled that Google violated antitrust laws by trying to establish a monopoly over the online search industry.
Google has been accused of paying companies like Apple, Samsung, and Mozilla to make the Google search engine default on their devices, destroying opportunities for its rival search engines.
“Google is a monopolist, and it has acted as one to maintain its monopoly,” the ruling said.
Google tried to argue at the hearing by saying that its success is not owed to monopolistic practices but to its amazing range of products. It then added that the difference in numbers seems so huge because it’s only being compared with other search engines.
Google feels that to get a more accurate understanding of the market, its numbers should also be compared with companies like Amazon that depend on web traffic.
Kent Walker, president of global affairs at Google’s parent company Alphabet, issued a statement on behalf of the company saying that the court’s decision recognizes that Google is the industry’s highest-quality search engine, but at the same time says that it shouldn’t be allowed to make it easily available.
Kent also said that the ruling acknowledges that Apple and Mozilla conduct routine evaluations and that Google proves to be superior to its rivals every single time.
This is a massive defeat for Google and could change its trajectory, as it might even be asked to sell off parts of its business. What’s more, this ruling also has the potential to change the way we use the internet. With that said, Google has decided to appeal against the decision.
It’s worth noting that this verdict finds Google guilty of breaking antitrust laws, and a separate proceeding will determine the steps it needs to follow to get back into compliance.
A Little History of the Case
The antitrust lawsuit was filed by the Department of Justice and a group of US states in 2020 (the trial started in 2023) over its practice of paying companies billions to make Google the default search engine on their devices.
For example, according to a New York Times report, Apple alone received around $18 billion from Google.
Research shows that Google controls over 90% of the search industry, which means it also gets to dominate the market for sponsored ads, further deepening the gap between Google and other rival search engines.
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