Google has an illegal monopoly on search, US judge finds
WASHINGTON, Aug 5 (Reuters) – Alphabet’s (GOOGL.O), opens new tab Google broke the law with monopolistic behavior over online search and related advertising, a federal judge ruled on Monday, the first victory for U.S. antitrust authorities who have filed several lawsuits challenging Big Tech’s market dominance.
The decision is a significant win for the Justice Department, which had sued the search engine giant over its control of about 90% of the online search market, and 95% on smartphones.
“The court reaches the following conclusion: Google is a monopolist, and it has acted as one to maintain its monopoly,” U.S. District Judge Amit Mehta wrote.
His ruling paves the way for a second trial to determine potential fixes, such as breaking up the company or requiring the company to stop paying smartphone makers billions of dollars annually to set Google as the default search engine on new phones.
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Source: https://www.reuters.com/legal/us-judge-rules-google-broke-antitrust-law-search-case-2024-08-05/