The search landscape is about to change with the most significant legal ruling against a major technology giant in more than two decades. A federal judge in the United States ruled that Google illegally monopolized online search and advertising by paying companies like Apple and Samsung billions of dollars a year to install Google as the default search engine on smartphones and web browsers.
By monopolizing search queries on smartphones and browsers, Google abused its dominance in the search market, throttling competition and harming consumers, U.S. District Judge Amit P. Mehta said in his 286-page decision. Google owes much of its more than US$ 300 billion in annual revenue to search ads.
"Google is a monopolist, and it has acted as one to maintain its monopoly," Mehta wrote.
The massive win for the Justice Department could fundamentally reshape how Google does business. It also could change how we use the internet and search for information.
The Justice Department filed antitrust charges during the final weeks of the Trump administration, making good on Donald Trump’s pledge to challenge the runaway power of Big Tech. That mission continued during the Biden administration, which has been aggressive in pursuing antitrust cases.
"This victory against Google is an historic win for the American people," Attorney General Garland said in a statement. "No company – no matter how large or influential – is above the law."
The case is the most significant victory for the Justice Department in a monopoly case in decades, said Notre Dame Law School professor Roger Alford, who served in the Justice Department’s antitrust division. "Not since Microsoft lost in the 1990s have we seen a case of this magnitude."
Google said it would appeal the decision. "This decision recognizes that Google offers the best search engine, but concludes that we shouldn’t be allowed to make it easily available," Kent Walker, president of global affairs, said in a statement.
Shares in Google parent company Alphabet slipped following the judge's ruling. They closed down nearly 5 percent last 5 August, part of a broader tech stock selloff.
If upheld, the decision will be a "major boost" for other antitrust cases pending against Google as well as other major tech players like Amazon, Apple and Meta, said Loyola University Chicago School of Law professor Spencer Weber Waller.
The ruling did not include remedies. Remedies will be decided separately, likely after an appeal. One remedy could see Google losing its ability to strike device deals that have helped make its search engine so ubiquitous.
Devising the right remedy is critical to restoring competition to the marketplace, Waller said.
"There are no fines or monetary penalties in these types of cases, but the court will have to decide whether Google should be broken up in some way. More likely, it will order Google to eliminate the exclusive contracts and licensing restrictions that have reinforced its monopoly position for years," he said.
Posts
0 comments
Post a Comment