Google Recognized as a Monopoly
“Google is a monopoly and has acted in this capacity to maintain its monopoly.” Justice Amit P. Mehta said on Monday.
In a 277-page ruling, he said Google broke the law to maintain a monopoly on the Internet search engine market. The New York Times said it could change the way tech giants do business.
The US Department of Justice and individual US states in 2020 accused Google of illegally building its advantage by paying other companies, such as Apple and Samsung, to ensure that its search engine would be targeted on their devices. As reported by the NYT, the company spent billions of dollars annually for this purpose.
“This is the largest antitrust trial of the 21st century and the first of many cases brought against tech giants that ended badly for them,” said Rebecca Haw Allensworth, a law professor at Vanderbilt University who specializes in antitrust law. She said it could be a breakthrough.
The court agreed with the complainants on the most important allegations.
The court agreed with the plaintiffs on the most important counts, but on minor issues it agreed with Google’s arguments. For example, it did not agree with the charge that the corporation was blocking Microsoft’s Bing search engine.
Google’s global president, Kent Walker, has already announced that the company will appeal the court’s ruling. “This decision confirms that Google offers the best search tool, but at the same time recognizes that we shouldn’t make it easier to access,” he said.
The US Justice Department is pursuing several cases against tech giants like Google and Apple. As reported by the NYT, in these legal battles the government is testing how effective antitrust laws, originally created in the early 20th century, are in the era of global tech corporations.
Google, which is part of the Alphabet holding, offers many digital products, the most famous of which is the Google search engine, used – according to the analytical company Similarweb – in 91 percent of all internet searches in the world. (PAP)
