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A federal judge ruled on Monday that Google monopolized online search engine market, violating U.S. antitrust laws.
The DOJ sued Google in 2020 for allegedly monopolizing digital search, pushing out competitors such as DuckDuckGo and Microsoft’s Bing. It was the first major tech antitrust lawsuit since U.S. v. Microsoft, a 1998 case that found Microsoft monopolized computer operating systems. The trial concluded in May.
“Google’s dominance has gone unchallenged for well over a decade,” wrote Judge Amit Mehta in his 277-page ruling Tuesday. “Google is a monopolist, and it has acted as one to maintain its monopoly. It has violated Section 2 of the Sherman Act.”
Mehta said Google’s exclusive agreements with companies like Apple have allowed it to hike prices for advertisers without any blowback. He wrote “there is no evidence that any rival constrains Google’s pricing decisions” and that those unconstrained pricing decisions “have fueled Google’s dramatic revenue growth and allowed it to maintain high and remarkably stable operating profits.” The judge noted that nearly 90% of all search queries went through Google in 2020.
Kent Walker, Google’s president of global affairs said in a statement, “This decision recognizes that Google offers the best search engine, but concludes that we shouldn’t be allowed to make it easily available.”
Walker said Google plans to appeal the decision. “As this process continues, we will remain focused on making products that people find helpful and easy to use.”
The Google case has been likened to the U.S. v. Microsoft case, which alleged Microsoft held a similarly overwhelming share — more than 90% — of the computer operating system market.
Regulators in the last several years have ramped up their antitrust scrutiny of Big Tech. This year, the U.S. Federal Trade Commission and Department of Justice have collectively filed major lawsuits against Amazon, Apple, and Meta, as well as a second antitrust case against Google, which alleges monopolistic practices in the digital advertising market.
Mehta’s ruling has major implications for Google and consumers across the globe. Google will likely have to make substantial changes to its search engine business to comply with antitrust laws, which could open up a path for OpenAI’s new search engine as well as other rivals.
Correction: A previous version of this article incorrectly stated that the court found Google guilty of monopolizing the search engine advertising market. The court said Google has monopoly power in the general search text advertising market, not the general search advertising market.