Google’s monopoly of online searches illegal, says US judge

Amit Mehta, a United States (US) judge, has ruled that Google acted illegally to maintain monopoly on online searches and related advertising.

On Oct 20, 2020, the US department of justice filed a civil antitrust lawsuit to stop Google from unlawfully maintaining monopolies through anticompetitive and exclusionary practices in the search and search advertising markets and to remedy the competitive harms.

The department of justice alleged that Google is the monopoly gatekeeper to the internet for billions of users and countless advertisers worldwide.

It said for years, Google has accounted for almost 90 percent of all search queries in the US and has used anticompetitive tactics to maintain and extend its monopolies in search and search advertising.  

The department also alleged that Google’s anticompetitive practices have had harmful effects on competition and consumers.

In a blog post responding to the lawsuit, Kent Walker, Google’s chief legal officer, presented the company’s defence against the department’s allegations.

Walker said users choose Google willingly, not because they are compelled to or unable to find other options.

“Today’s lawsuit by the Department of Justice is deeply flawed,” Walker wrote.

“People use Google because they choose to, not because they’re forced to, or because they can’t find alternatives.

“This lawsuit would do nothing to help consumers. To the contrary, it would artificially prop up lower-quality search alternatives, raise phone prices, and make it harder for people to get the search services they want to use.”

According to BBC News, in his ruling on Monday, Mehta said Google paid billions to secure its position as the default search engine on smartphones and browsers.

“Google is a monopolist, and it has acted as one to maintain its monopoly,” Mehta said.

The ruling comes after a 10-week trial in Washington DC, in which prosecutors accused Google of spending billions of dollars annually to Apple, Samsung, Mozilla and others to be pre-installed as the default search engine across platforms.

The US said Google pays more than $10 billion a year for that privilege, securing its access to a steady stream of user data that helped maintain its hold on the market.

Prosecutors said doing so meant other companies did not have the opportunity or resources to meaningfully compete.

The judge concluded that being the default search engine is “extremely valuable real estate” for Google.

“Even if a new entrant were positioned from a quality standpoint to bid for the default when an agreement expires, such a firm could compete only if it were prepared to pay partners upwards of billions of dollars in revenue share,” the judge said.

While the judge has not decided on penalties for Google, the publication said the US government has asked for “structural relief” — which in theory, could mean the break-up of the company.

Also, Reuters reported Alphabet, the parent company of Google, plans to appeal against the ruling.

Another case against Google over its advertising technology is scheduled for trial in September.