Google he acted illegally to maintain his own monopoly in online searches. This was established by a United States federal judge, Amit P. Mehta of the District Court of Columbia, in a judgment historic event that marks a milestone in the fight against the digital giants and could radically influence the global technology market.
Google condemned: here's what happened
Il United States Department of Justice, together with various states, took Alphabet (Google's parent company) to court accusing the company of having consolidated its dominant position paying billions of dollars to other companies, such as Apple e Samsung. These payments aimed to make Google the default search engine on smartphones and other devices. In 2021 alone, Google spent over $26 billion on these deals. Justice Department lawyers argued that Google controls about 90% of the U.S. search market.
The sentence
In his verdict of 277 pages, Judge Amit P. Mehta ruled that Google violated the Section 2 of the Sherman Act, a crucial law for the regulation of competition. “After carefully considering and weighing the testimony and evidence, the court reaches the following conclusion: Google is a monopolist and has acted as such to maintain its monopoly,” Mehta said. This verdict concludes that Google's exclusive contracts have allowed it to exclude potential competitors such as Bing and Microsoft's DuckDuckGo. According to Mehta, Google has never provided valid justifications for these exclusivity agreements, and has used its monopoly power to charge high prices in advertising associated with research.
The ruling represents the culmination of a lengthy 10-week trial, which took place in 2023 and highlighted the scope and impact of Google's anti-competitive practices. Mehta acknowledged the importance of the lawsuit, saying, “The importance and significance of this case is not lost on me, not just to Google but to the public.”
The consequences
It is not yet clear which one sanction Google will face for violating antitrust laws. However, the decision could set a significant precedent for future cases against other tech giants such as Apple, Amazon and Meta. The investigations that led to this ruling began during the Trump administration and intensified under President Biden.
Google's response
Google has announced its intention to do so appeal against the sentence, pointing out that its market position is the result of offering a better service than competitors, such as Microsoft's Bing. The company said: “We will continue to defend our position and demonstrate that our agreements do not violate antitrust laws.” There is a real possibility that the case will end up in the Supreme Court, which could further drag out the judicial process.
