Google Stunned by Judge’s Decision in Search Antitrust Case

Photo Credit: Pawel Czerwinski

Google is stunned by a federal judge’s ruling that the company has violated US antitrust law with its search business.On Monday, August 5, Judge Amit Mehta of the US District Court for the District of Columbia ruled against Google in a massive federal antitrust lawsuit over its dominance in the search business. Google has violated US antitrust law, according to the ruling.

“Google [has] a major, largely unseen advantage over its rivals: default distribution,” the ruling explains. “Most users access a general search engine through a browser (like Apple’s Safari) or a search widget that comes preloaded on a mobile device. Those search access points are preset with a ‘default’ search engine. The default is extremely valuable real estate.”

“For years, Google has secured default placements through distribution contracts. It has entered into such agreements with browser developers, mobile device manufacturers, and wireless carriers. These partners agree to install Google as the search engine that is delivered to the user right out of the box at key search access points,” the decision asserts. “Google pays huge sums to secure these preloaded defaults.”“After having carefully considered and weighed the witness testimony and evidence, the court reaches the following conclusion: Google is a monopolist, and it has acted as one to maintain its monopoly,” writes US District Judge Amit Mehta. “It has violated Section 2 of the Sherman Act.”

The court’s decision is an enormous rebuke of Google’s oldest and most significant business. The Alphabet Inc.-owned company has spent in the tens of billions of dollars on exclusive contracts in order to secure a dominant position as the default search engine provider worldwide.

Namely, Google’s exclusive deals with key players in the mobile ecosystem, like Apple, have helped it achieved a powerful position that has led to anticompetitive behavior. Google has also charged high prices in search advertising that reflect its monopoly in the search engine game, said Mehta. Those contracts have meant for years that when users want to find information, Google has typically been the easiest and quickest platform to do that, which has fueled the company’s vast online advertising business.It’s important to note that the court did not find Google to be a monopoly in search ads; this case is separate from an antitrust lawsuit filed against Google by the Biden administration in 2023, which was related to the company’s advertising technology business. But Judge Mehta’s ruling on Monday stands as the first major federal decision in a series of US government-led antitrust lawsuits against tech companies, described as the biggest tech antitrust case since U.S. v. Microsoft nearly 25 years ago.

In December, a federal jury in California ruled that Google operates an illegal monopoly with its proprietary app store. The court is still deliberating potential solutions in that case. Meanwhile, Mehta’s decision is expected to trigger a separate proceeding to determine what penalties the company will face. Google is likely to file an appeal at that point — which means it could ultimately take months or potentially years for the consequences to fully play out. Google is also expected to face a monetary fine.