Google To Face Its Biggest Antitrust Lawsuit Ever In The US [Updated]
Update: Yesterday, the US Department of Justice filed an antitrust lawsuit against Google for maintaining an illegal monopoly over search and advertising markets. In response, Google defended itself by tweeting that “Today’s lawsuit by the Department of Justice is deeply flawed.” It has argued that “people use Google because they choose to — not because they’re forced to or because they can’t find alternatives.”
Original story continues from here...
The upcoming lawsuit to be filed by the US government could very well turn into one of the largest antitrust cases against not only Google but also in US history.
US To Sue Google For ‘Illegal Monopoly’
The suit, which will be filed in Washington DC, accuses Google of creating and abusing its monopoly over the search engine market by signing exclusive business contracts and agreements to lock out its competitors. Examples of such contracts include the billions of dollars that Google pays Apple to make Google the default search engine in iPhones.
Similar agreements were made with Android phone makers as well to pre-load the Google search engine on their smartphones to make it difficult for rival search engines to compete in the race.
Also Read: DOJ May Force Google To Sell Chrome To Settle Antitrust Case
Once set into motion, Google’s antitrust lawsuit might go on for years. It could also set off a bunch of other antitrust lawsuits in motion from state attorneys general. Currently, four dozen states and jurisdictions are said to have conducted parallel investigations, and they plan to launch separate complaints against the tech giant’s monopoly in online advertising.
A briefing by the Deputy Attorney General Jeffrey A. Rosen has been scheduled on Tuesday which will shed more light on the details of this case.
It’s Not The First Google Antitrust Lawsuit
Google’s parent company Alphabet is valued at $1.04 trillion and with cash reserves of $120 billion. Its search engine controls nearly 90% of the market for online searches. Last year, Google earned $34.3 billion through search revenue in the US. By 2022, this figure is expected to increase by up to $42.5 billion.
Now, Google has previously faced similar antitrust lawsuits in Europe. But they certainly weren’t as big as the one that’s currently at hand.
Back then, Google said that it has strong competition in the search market — such that more people seek information on sites like Amazon. It even claimed that the services it provides have been beneficial for small businesses.
However, it’s a well-known fact that an overwhelmingly huge number of entities— right from major public corporations, to small businesses and entrepreneurs — rely on Google for traffic, and there is no alternate search engine that can act as a replacement on such a huge scale.
