A US judge ruled on Monday that Google has been illegally exploiting its dominance in the search engine market to stifle competition and suppress innovation.
Issued by US District Judge Amit Mehta, the ruling is seen as a significant victory for the US Justice Department in what has become the largest antitrust case in the United States in the last 25 years, AP reports.
The verdict follows nearly a year of intense legal battles between the US Justice Department and Google, a subsidiary of Alphabet.
Spans 277 pages, Judge Mehta’s decision comes after a comprehensive review of evidence and testimony from top executives at major tech companies, including Google, Microsoft, and Apple.
“After having carefully considered and weighed the witness testimony and evidence, the court reaches the following conclusion: Google is a monopolist, and it has acted as one to maintain its monopoly,” Judge Mehta stated.
The judge cited the company’s overwhelming market share as evidence of its monopolistic behavior.
Google controls 89.2% of general search services and 94.9% of searches on mobile devices.
The tech giant became synonymous with online search as it doubled its search queries over the past 12 years to reach an estimated 8.5 billion search queries a day, according to research from investment firm BOND.
In response to the ruling, Google’s president of global affairs, Kent Walker, said his company would appeal the decision.
A ‘win’ for Americans
“This decision recognizes that Google offers the best search engine, but concludes that we shouldn’t be allowed to make it easily available,” Walker said.
Meanwhile, the Justice Department welcomed the ruling, considering it a “historic” victory for the American people and a step forward in dismantling tech monopolies.
“This victory against Google is a historic win for the American people,” Attorney General Merrick Garland was quoted as saying by the AP. “No company — no matter how large or influential — is above the law. The Justice Department will continue to vigorously enforce our antitrust laws.”
The Justice Department’s case painted against Google claims that the company suppressed competition to maintain its search engine as the centerpiece of a digital advertising empire that generated nearly $240 billion in revenue last year.
The department argued that Google’s monopoly allowed it to charge advertisers excessively high prices while neglecting further investments to enhance its search engine, ultimately harming consumers.
Billions in default agreements
The case alleges that Google spends billions of dollars to ensure its search engine remains the default choice on new smartphones and tech gadgets.
In 2021 alone, Google invested more than $26 billion to secure these default agreements. The judge cited this strategy as evidence of Google’s deliberate efforts to maintain its market dominance.
Google dismissed these allegations, arguing that consumers have the autonomy to switch search engines if dissatisfied with search results.
The Judge, however, pointed to Microsoft’s Bing, which holds an 80% market share on the Microsoft Edge browser, as evidence that other search engines can succeed when not overshadowed by Google’s default status.
Despite acknowledging Google’s superior product quality, the judge stressed that the company’s monopolistic practices were a significant factor in its dominance.