Google has illegal monopoly on Internet searches, US judge rules | Internet News

The case portrayed Google as a technology bully that methodically thwarted competition to protect its search engine.

A US judge has ruled that Google spent billions of dollars to create an illegal monopoly for its search engine, exploiting its dominance to crush competition and stifle innovation.

Monday’s historic ruling that Google violated antitrust law marks the first major success for U.S. authorities taking over Big Tech, which has been criticized across the political spectrum.

“The court reaches the following conclusion: Google is a monopolist and acted as such to maintain its monopoly,” wrote U.S. District Judge Amit Mehta in his 277-page ruling.

Google’s dominance in the search market was proof of its monopoly, the ruling concluded.

Google “enjoys an 89.2% share of the overall search services market, which increases to 94.9% on mobile devices,” the ruling states.

US Attorney General Merrick Garland called the ruling “a historic victory for the American people,” adding that “no company – no matter how big or influential – is above the law.”

The decision represents a major setback for Google and its parent company, Alphabet, which argued that its popularity stemmed from consumers’ overwhelming desire to use a search engine that has become synonymous with looking things up online.

Google’s search engine processes around 8.5 billion queries every day around the world, almost double the daily volume of 12 years ago, according to a recent study by investment firm BOND.

Google’s president of global affairs, Kent Walker, said the company would appeal the decision, noting that Mehta characterized Google as the best search engine in the industry.

“Given this, and that people are increasingly looking for more information in more and more ways, we intend to appeal,” Walker said.

The ruling paves the way for a second trial to determine possible solutions, possibly including the breakup of Alphabet, which would change the landscape of the online advertising world that Google has dominated for years.

The decision is the first major decision in a series of cases involving alleged monopolies in Big Tech, including Facebook and Instagram owner Meta, Amazon and Apple. The Google case, brought by the administration of former President Donald Trump, was brought to trial by a judge from September to November last year.

Senator Amy Klobuchar, a Democrat who chairs the Senate Judiciary Committee’s antitrust subcommittee, said the fact that the case has continued between administrations shows strong bipartisan support for antitrust enforcement.

“It’s a huge victory for the American people that antitrust enforcement is alive and well when it comes to competition,” she said. “Google is a rampant monopolist.”

The case portrayed Google as a technology bully that methodically thwarted competition to protect a search engine that became the centerpiece of a digital advertising machine that generated nearly $240 billion in revenue last year.

Justice Department lawyers argued that Google’s monopoly allowed it to charge advertisers artificially high prices while enjoying the luxury of not having to invest more time and money into improving the quality of its search engine – a negligent approach. that harmed users.

Mehta’s decision highlighted the billions of dollars Google spends every year to install its search engine as the default option on new cell phones and electronic devices. In 2021 alone, Google spent more than $26 billion to secure these default agreements, the judge said.

Experts said the appeals process will likely take years, and that will likely delay any immediate impact on users and advertisers.