Google has been illegally preserving a monopoly on the search engine business, according to a federal judge’s ruling on Monday. U.S. District Judge Amit Mehta of Washington, D.C. argued that the internet behemoth broke antitrust rules by spending billions of dollars to guarantee its position as the default search engine on a variety of devices.
Monday’s ruling marks a high-profile win for government officials in their legal fight against Big Tech’s hegemony. A follow-up trial may result in extreme measures, such as the dissolution of Alphabet, Google’s parent company, fundamentally changing the internet advertising market that Google has dominated for years.
“Google is a monopolist, and it has acted as one to maintain its monopoly,” Judge Mehta wrote. With a stunning $26.3 billion spent in 2021 alone to guarantee its search engine remained the default option on the majority of smartphones and web browsers, the Mountain View, California-based tech giant controls about 90% of the internet search market and 95% of searches on smartphones.
“The default is extremely valuable real estate,” Mehta noted, emphasizing that any competitor trying to displace Google would have to be ready to spend billions.
Alphabet shares fell 4.5% on Monday, amid major falls in the technology industry. If Alphabet loses its default position, Google’s advertising income, which accounted for 77% of its total sales in 2023, may be seriously jeopardized. The loss of Google’s default position on Apple’s Safari browser alone, Judge Mehta pointed out, may cost the company billions in lost income and a large decline in search traffic.
“This decision recognizes that Google offers the best search engine, but concludes that we shouldn’t be allowed to make it easily available,” Alphabet replied in a statement.
U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland praised the ruling as a “historic win for the American people,” suggesting that even the mightiest corporations are not above the law. White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre called it a victory for competition and fairness, emphasizing that Americans deserve an internet that is free and open.
The case, originally filed during the Trump administration, is the first major decision in a slew of bipartisan-backed antitrust lawsuits aimed at Big Tech. Other giants like Meta, Amazon, and Apple are also in the crosshairs of federal regulators.
