A US court has ruled that Google acted illegally to maintain a monopoly in the online search market.
The New York Times reports.
A lawsuit against Google was filed in 2020 by the US Department of Justice. Back then, Google was accused of violating anti-trust laws. The company has spent tens of billions of dollars on exclusive contracts to ensure the dominant position of its search engine on smartphones and web browsers around the world. This effectively prevented competitors from succeeding in the market.
Google’s monopoly allowed the company to overcharge for some search ads – this gave the company more money to advertise its search engine. Since Google had effectively squeezed all competitors out of the market, it could afford to make such demands on advertisers.
The court recognized this and other facts as evidence that Google became a monopolist in the search market not because it provided better services, but because it manipulated users. Therefore, the court’s decision is a serious blow to Google. After all, the company has become so well known for its online search that its name has been used to form the verb google.
US Attorney General Merrick Garland called the victory over Google in court “historic.”
According to The New York Times, this decision will have a strong impact on other antitrust lawsuits filed by the government, such as those against tech giants Apple, Amazon and Meta. The last antitrust decision against a tech company was made more than 25 years ago – in 1998 against Microsoft. In addition, the recognition of Google’s monopoly could be the beginning of the end of the dominance of big tech.
The judge will decide on sanctions against Google in the coming months. The company may be forced to change its working methods or sell part of its business. Google plans to appeal the decision.
