US authorities are striving to enhance competition in the online search sector
A federal judge has ruled that American tech behemoth Google violated the law by establishing a monopoly over online searches.
This decision is seen as a significant triumph for US antitrust authorities, who have initiated multiple lawsuits against major tech companies in an effort to bolster competition within the industry, as noted by Reuters.
The lawsuit, filed by the US Department of Justice in 2020, asserted that Google has maintained its dominance in the search market by creating barriers for other providers to enter.
”After carefully considering and weighing 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,” states the ruling issued by the US District Court for the District of Columbia.
Google “enjoys an 89.2% share of the market for general search services, which increases to 94.9% on mobile devices,” the ruling reveals.
Google has paid substantial sums to device manufacturers to guarantee its position as the default search engine on smartphones and browsers, Judge Amit Mehta stated.
The Department of Justice has hailed the decision as “an historic win for the American people,” emphasizing that “no company – no matter how large or influential – is above the law.”
The ruling “recognizes that Google offers the best search engine,” Kent Walker, president of global affairs at Google’s parent company Alphabet, stated in a press release on X (formerly Twitter). The company intends to appeal the decision, Walker added.
The specific penalties Alphabet will face remain unclear. According to Reuters, a second trial may be held to determine potential remedies, possibly including a break-up of the tech giant.
The company faces a separate lawsuit concerning its advertising technology, scheduled to go to trial in September.
Google has also been fined billions of euros in monopoly cases within the European Union.
Other major tech companies, including Facebook owner Meta Platforms, Amazon and Apple, have also been sued by federal antitrust regulators for allegedly operating unlawful monopolies.