Google Loses Landmark Antitrust Case over Search

In a landmark ruling in the US, Federal District Judge Amit Mehta ruled this week that Google's search busines practices have violated US antitrust law, stating: 'Google is a monopolist, and it has acted as one to maintain its monopoly'.

Analysts have described the case as the most significant government-big tech antitrust showdown since a case involving Microsoft's bundling of Windows and Internet Explorer more than twenty years ago.

Google has paid tens of billions of dollars to buy 'default browser' status in deals with Apple, Samsung and Mozilla, to guarantee its dominant position on smartphones and web browsers. These contracts have allowed it to block rivals such as Bing and DuckDuckGo, according to the filing. The suit was filed by the Justice Department together with a large number of US states during the previous (Trump) administration, and the hearing itself has run for nearly a year.

The judgement found Google parent Alphabet had violated Section 2 of the Sherman Antitrust Act of 1890. While not finding that Google has a monopoly in search advertising, Mehta in his 277-page opinion did say the company has also been able to charge high prices for the ads due to its monopoly power in search. A separate case brought last year by the Biden administration and covering ad tech is expected to move towards a trial in a month's time.

White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said in a statement last night: 'As President Biden and Vice President Harris have long said, Americans deserve an internet that is free, fair, and open for competition'. Google has announced it will appeal the decision, and stressed that Mehta appeared to have recognised it as the best search engine. The appeal process and decisions about the penalties Google should face may take many months or even years. Whilst the possibility of an order for Google to be broken up has not been ruled out, it should be noted that such an order was made against Microsoft in the Windows / IE case and successfully appealed by the company: fines and/or more limited business changes are more likely.

In addition to the nascent search ads case, the Department of Justice is also suing Apple for barriers to consumer switching away from the iPhone, while the FTC has actions in progress against Meta for its approach to early-days competitors, and Amazon for the policies / prices imposed on its merchants.

Judgement in full: www.pacermonitor.com/view/VZTUTSQ/UNITED_STATES_OF_AMERICA_et_al_v_GOOGLE_LLC__dcdce-20-03010__1033.0.pdf .