A federal judge ruled on Monday that Google violated US antitrust laws with its search business, a major setback for the tech giant and a major victory for the Justice Department in its efforts to control Big Tech.
After careful consideration of the evidence and witness testimony, the court reached the following conclusion: Google is a tyrant, and it acts as one to maintain its dominance,” US District Judge Amit “It violated Section 2 of the Sherman Act,” Mehta wrote in his ruling on Monday.
The Justice Department and states sued Google, accusing it of unilaterally spending billions of dollars to become the default search provider for other web browsers and phones. smart ones. Google argued that consumers can easily change their default search engines and are free to do so.
After reviewing some of the evidence, including testimony from top executives at Google, Microsoft and Apple during a 10-week trial last year, Mehta issued his likely verdict. The move came three months after both sides presented their closing arguments in early May.
It represents a major setback for Google and its parent, Alphabet Inc., which have argued strongly that its popularity stems from consumers’ strong desire to use the search engine so well at what it does. it’s not like looking things up on the internet. The Google search engine currently handles an estimated 8.5 billion queries per day worldwide, nearly doubling from 12 years ago, according to a recent study released by the search firm. BOND investment.
Google will of course appeal the decision which could eventually reach the United States Supreme Court.
For now, the ruling emboldens antitrust officials at the Justice Department, which filed its case nearly four years ago while Donald Trump was president, and is ramping up efforts to strengthen the power of Big Tech during the administration of President Joe Biden.
The case portrayed Google as a technology champion that has routinely thwarted competition to protect the search engine that has become a key part of the digital advertising industry that generates about $240 billion a year. the past. Justice Department lawyers have argued that Google’s independence has enabled it to charge advertisers high prices while enjoying the luxury of investing time and money to improve the quality of its search engine – the way inconsistent which hurts customers.
Google scoffed at the allegations, noting that consumers had previously switched search engines when they were disappointed with the results they were getting. For example, Yahoo – now a small player on the Internet – was the most popular search engine in the 1990s before Google came along.
Mehta’s decision that Google is running an illegal monopoly creates another part of the law to determine what kinds of changes or penalties should be made to restore the damage done and restore the competitive environment.
A possible outcome would be a broad injunction requiring Google to dismantle some of the pillars of its online empire or stop it from spending more than $20 billion annually to ensure that the engine its search engine automatically answers questions on iPhone and other Internet-connected devices. tools. After the next step, the judge could decide that only modest changes are needed to level the playing field.
If there is a major shakeup, it could be revolutionary for Microsoft, whose power was undermined in the late 1990s when the Justice Department targeted the software maker in an antitrust case accusing it of to abuse control of its Windows operating system. on your computers to close the contest.
That Microsoft case was similar to the one brought against Google in many ways and now the result may be the same. As Microsoft’s unfair fight created obstacles and obstacles that opened up more opportunities for Google after its launch in 1998, a decision against Google would be a boon for Microsoft, which already has value. market cap of over $3 trillion. At one time, Alphabet was more valuable than Microsoft, but now it trails its rival with a market value of nearly $2 trillion.
In addition to boosting Microsoft’s Bing search engine, the result could hurt Google in an important area of technology in the era of artificial intelligence. Both Microsoft and Google are among the early leaders in the AI battle that could now be affected by Mehta’s marketing decision.
Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella was one of the Justice Department’s star witnesses during testimony that covered his frustration with Google’s deals with the likes of Apple that made it difficult for the search engine to of Bing can do either way, as Microsoft poured more than $ 100 billion. in development since 2009.
“You wake up in the morning, you brush your teeth and you search on Google,” Nadella said at one point in his testimony. “Everyone talks about the open web, but there is a Google web.”
Nadella also expressed fears that antitrust enforcement may be needed to ensure the situation does not worsen as AI becomes a major force in search.
“While I’m excited that there’s a new side with AI, I’m very worried that this vicious cycle I’m stuck in could get worse,” Nadella said in a statement.
Google faces other legal threats besides this one, both in the US and abroad. any antitrust lawsuits brought against Google domestically and internationally. In September, a federal trial is scheduled to begin in Virginia over the Justice Department’s allegations that Google’s ad technology constitutes illegal government activity.
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