Antitrust Case Against Google Begins in US
On Tuesday, Google will confront its most significant legal battle yet in a Washington court, as it defends itself against allegations from the US government that it engaged in illegal practices to establish its dominant position in online search.
During more than 10 weeks of testimony, Google is trying to convince a federal judge that a landmark case brought by the Justice Department is without merit.
The lawsuit is the largest U.S. antitrust case against a major technology company since the same department took on Microsoft more than two decades ago for dominating its Windows operating system.
“Technology has advanced a lot in 20 years, so the results of this case have strong implications for how technology platforms will operate in the future,” said John Lopatka, Penn State’s School of Law.
Google’s case centers on the government’s claim that it illegally forged its power in online search by striking exclusive deals with device makers, cell phone carriers and other companies that left competitors with no way to compete.
With these billions of dollars annually to Apple, Samsung or carriers such as T-Mobile or AT&T, Google secured the default search engine mode on phones and web browsers and allegedly guaranteed its success at the expense of competitors.
“Two decades ago, Google became the darling of Silicon Valley as a scrappy startup with an innovative way to search the evolving Internet,” the Justice Department said in the suit. “That Google is long gone.”
The biggest alleged victims in the case are rival search engines that have yet to gain significant market share against Google, such as Microsoft’s Bing and DuckDuckGo.
-90 percent share –
Google is still the world’s leading search engine, capturing 90 percent of the market in the United States and around the world. Most of that comes through mobile usage on iPhones and phones running Google’s proprietary Android.
In its defense, the company claims its success is due to the unbeatable quality of its search engine, which founders Sergei Brin and Larry Page have evaluated since it was launched in 1998.
“In short, people don’t use Google because they have to — they use it because they want to,” said Kent Walker, Google’s director of global affairs, in a blog post.
The trial will be presided over and decided by Judge Amit P. Mehta, whose verdict will come many months after about three months of proceedings.
The stakes for Google are huge if Mehta supports any or all of the US government’s arguments.
Remedial actions may include breaking up Google’s widespread business or ordering it to reform the way it operates.
The company has faced major legal action in Europe, where it was fined more than 8.2 billion euros ($8.8 billion) for various antitrust violations, although the rulings have been appealed.
Regardless of what Mehta decides, both sides will almost certainly appeal the U.S. case, which could take years.
The Washington case against Microsoft, launched in 1998, ended in a settlement in 2001 after an appeal overturned an order to break up the company.
The US government launched a lawsuit against Google during the Trump administration, and the lawsuit went to President Joe Biden.
Biden has also wanted to challenge the tech giants, but has little to show for it.
In January, Biden’s Justice Department launched a separate case against Google over its advertising practices, which could go to trial next year.
The company is also facing other US state lawsuits accusing it of abusing monopolies in advertising technology and stifling competition in its Google Play app store.
Google and the states announced on Tuesday that they had reached an agreement in principle to resolve the Google Play case.
