A U.S. lawsuit has found Google abused its power to create an online search engine monopoly.
This week, the tech giant lost a major anti-competition court case in the U.S.
Judge Amit Mehta found Google used unlawful practices to increase its prominence and restrict competitors like Bing and Yahoo.
The action against Google is one of several U.S. government cases against tech companies over concerns of unfair competition.
In 2020, Google accounted for 90% of online searches worldwide.
It pays other tech companies like Android and Apple to embed its search engine in their products.
These agreements (“distribution deals”) boost Google’s user numbers, and in turn, its advertising revenue.
In 2021, it made $US146 billion ($AU224 billion) in advertising revenue.
Lawsuit
“Antitrust laws” in the U.S. are designed to stop companies from unfairly limiting competition, to become a monopoly.
According to U.S. law, a monopoly occurs when one company obtains market dominance through measures that shut down competition.
The U.S Government first launched legal action against Google in 2020, accusing it of anti-competitive conduct.
The U.S. Government argued Google tried to stifle competition through agreements with tech companies to be the inbuilt search engine on devices like computers and phones.
During a nine-week trial last year, Google’s lawyers defended its dominance, arguing: “Google is winning because it’s better.”
In a decision handed down this week, Judge Mehta sided with the U.S. Government, noting Google’s place as the “integrated search bar” in tech products like the Safari browser on Apple devices.
Judgement
Judge Mehta found Google “is a monopolist and it has acted to maintain its monopoly”.
Mehta said: “Distribution agreements benefit Google [because] more users mean more advertisers, and more advertisers mean more revenues… These distribution deals have forced Google’s rivals to find other ways to reach users.”
Response
The ruling casts doubt over Google’s distribution deals.
Google plans to appeal the ruling.
Google’s President of Global Affairs Kent Walker questioned why the ruling recognised Google as “the best search engine,” but sought to restrict its mass availability.
U.S. Attorney-General Merrick Garland said the win showed “no company… is above the law.”
The decision could influence the U.S. Government’s other ongoing lawsuits against big companies like Apple, which it’s suing for creating a smartphone monopoly.
