Judge concludes that Google maintains an illegal monopoly on online search

A federal judge ruled Monday that Google maintains a monopoly over online search and advertising in violation of antitrust law, in a landmark ruling.

“After carefully considering and weighing the witness testimony and evidence, the court reaches the following conclusion: Google is a monopolist and acted as such to maintain its monopoly,” reads the opinion from U.S. District Judge Amit Mehta.

The ruling largely sides with the Justice Department and the coalition of state attorneys general that sued Google in 2020, concluding that the tech giant has monopoly power in general search services and general search text ads. .

Mehta discovered that Google illegally maintains its monopoly in these two markets through exclusive agreements with partners, such as Apple, that ensure it is the default search engine on its devices.

About half of all queries in the U.S. go through standard search access points covered by these agreements, which the judge noted excludes a significant portion of the online search market.

This restricts Google’s rivals’ access to the scale needed to compete effectively with the search giant and has reduced the incentives of both Google and its competitors to invest and innovate in search.

The exclusive agreements also allow Google to raise text ad prices without “any significant competitive constraints,” the judge wrote.

“Unrestrained price increases fueled Google’s dramatic revenue growth and allowed it to maintain high and remarkably stable operating profits,” the opinion says. “Google, in turn, used these monopoly profits to secure the next iteration of exclusive deals through larger revenue share payments.”

Following the ruling, Attorney General Merrick Garland emphasized in a statement that no company is “above the law.”

“This victory against Google is a historic victory for the American people,” he said. “No company – no matter how big or influential – is above the law. The Department of Justice will continue to vigorously enforce our antitrust laws.”

Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.), who has led efforts in Congress to reform antitrust laws, hailed Monday’s ruling as a “huge victory for the American people.”

“For years, Google has used its dominance in online search markets to undermine rivals and limit competition. I have long called for action. The Department of Justice took this on and won,” Klobuchar said in a statement.

“This is a huge victory for the American people and shows the importance of enforcing our antitrust laws and why I am defending competition rules for big tech companies,” she added. “If they continue to fight against any sensible traffic rules, they will continue to be sued – and they will continue to lose.”

Updated at 4:31 p.m.

This story originally appeared on thehill.com read the full story