In a recent ruling in the United States, a judge ruled that Google has spent billions of dollars and has illegally monopolized online search and advertising for years, exploiting its dominance to beat competition and suppress innovation.
It paid companies like Apple and Samsung to install Google as the default search engine on mobile and web browsers.
Monday’s ruling that revealed that Google violated the antitrust law was considered the first victory for US authorities challenging Big Tech dominance.
In his 277-page ruling, US District Judge Amit Mehta wrote, “The court reaches the following conclusion: Google is a monopolist, and it has acted as one to maintain its monopoly.”
It also revealed that Google “enjoys an 89.2% share of the market for general search services, which increases to 94.9% on mobile devices.”
Regarding the matter, Google’s parent company, Alphabet, has argued that Google’s popularity is due to the consumer’s desire to use a search engine
Google’s global affairs president, Kent Walker, revealed that they will appeal the ruling, saying, “This decision recognizes that Google offers the best search engine but concludes that we shouldn’t be allowed to make it easily available.”
Monday’s ruling didn’t mention any remedies, as it will likely be revealed after an appeal. One remedy may make Google lose its ability to strike deals with other devices.
Although Google claims that its distribution is common in the business world, if it were not the default search engine, would people still use it for 90% of their queries?
Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella testified that it has created a ‘Google Web’ and if it continues, Microsoft would be at the most disadvantage with the increasing integration of AI in search engines.
However, experts say that the appeal is going to take years and will probably have no effect on the users and advertisers.
