A federal judge ruled that Google violated antitrust laws

A federal judge ruled on Monday that Alphabet – the parent company of technology giant Google – violated federal antitrust laws as it strengthened its dominant position in online search and related advertising.

The ruling from US District Judge Amit Mehta in the District of Columbia opens the door to a second trial to find a possible solution to Google’s search market dominance. It marks the Justice Department’s first victory over a single administration in more than 20 years.

The Department of Justice accused Google of its control of nearly 90% of the internet search market – an amount that rises to 95% in smartphones. Judge Mehta noted that Google paid $26.3 billion in 2021 alone to ensure that its search engine remains the default choice on web browsers and smartphones to maintain its dominant market share .

“The court reaches the following conclusion: Google is a private entity, and it acts as such to maintain its sovereignty,” Mehta wrote.

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Mehta’s decision paves the way for a second attempt to obtain potential remedies for Google’s control, such as requiring the company to stop paying billions of dollars annually to smartphone makers to keep its search engine as the default option.

“Even if a new entrant were to be placed in a position of value to apply for a payout when the deal ended, such a firm would only be able to compete if it was willing to pay partners more than billions of dollars. share with making it perfect for any tax deficiencies resulting from the change,” Mehta wrote.

“Google, of course, realizes that the loss of limitations will greatly affect its bottom line. For example, Google has estimated that the loss of the Safari option will result in a significant drop in queries and billions of dollars in revenue. lost,” he added.

Ticker	Security	Finally	Change	Change %
GOOGLE	ALPHABET INC.	159.25	-7.41	-4.45%

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Google’s President of Global Affairs Kent Walker said in a statement to FOX Business: “This decision recognizes that Google offers the best search engine, but determines that we are not​​​​ should be allowed to make it readily available.We appreciate the suggestion that Google is ‘.the industry’s most premium search engine, which has earned Google the trust of hundreds of millions of daily users’Google that ‘has long been the best search engine, especially for mobile devices’, ‘has continued to improve search’ and that ‘Apple and Mozilla sometimes they evaluate Google’s search quality against its competitors and find Google to be the most valuable.’

“Given this, and that people are looking for more information in many ways, we plan to appeal, “Walker added. “As this process continues, we will remain focused to create products that people find useful and easy to use.”

The Justice Department did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

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The ruling is the first grand jury ruling against Big Tech firms in a series of cases alleging that the companies engaged in collusion.

In the past four years, federal antitrust authorities have also filed lawsuits against Meta – the parent of Facebook and Instagram – as well as Amazon and Apple on charges that the Big Tech companies have illegally maintained monopolies. Another lawsuit against Google over its advertising technology is scheduled to go to trial in September.

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When the Google search lawsuit was filed in 2020, it was the first time in a generation that the federal government prosecuted a large corporation for maintaining an illegal government.

Microsoft settled a Justice Department lawsuit, which accused the company of forcing its Internet Explorer web browser on Windows users, in 2004.

Reuters contributed to this report.