Federal Judge Amit Mehta issued a stark decision in the Justice Department’s lawsuit against Google on Monday: “Google is a monopolist, and it has acted as one to maintain its monopoly.”
It was the culmination of an antitrust lawsuit that the Justice Department filed against Google in 2020, which was joined by 38 state attorneys general. The government accused Google of illegally orchestrating its business dealings to ensure its search engine stayed on top. After a 10-week trial last fall and closing arguments in May, Judge Mehta has concluded that Google did act illegally.
“For more than 15 years, one general search engine has stood above the rest: Google,” Mehta wrote in his 286-page ruling. “The brand is synonymous with search.”
It was the first major antitrust lawsuit against a tech company to make to trial in decades. It centers on the way that tech companies have been able to amass power, and control the products people now use daily in their lives. As other government antitrust suits have gotten underway, Mehta’s ruling could have a lasting effect on how tech giants are able to do business in the future.
“No company – no matter how large or influential – is above the law,” Attorney General Merrick Garland said in a statement. “The Justice Department will continue to vigorously enforce our antitrust laws.”
Google says it’s appealing the decision
Shortly after Mehta issued his decision, Google said it would appeal his ruling.
“This decision recognizes that Google offers the best search engine, but concludes that we shouldn’t be allowed to make it easily available,” Kent Walker, Google’s president of global affairs, said in a statement. “As this process continues, we will remain focused on making products that people find helpful and easy to use.”
Google controls around 90% of the U.S. search engine market. To fight this lawsuit, the company put together a massive legal team and brought on outside law firms to help argue its case. Google’s legal arguments hinged on the company saying its search product is superior to competitors and that’s why it dominates the industry.
During the trial, the two sides battled it out. Top Silicon Valley executives from Google and rival companies testified, including Google CEO Sundar Pichai and Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella. Troves of internal documents were introduced; and arguments erupted over redacted evidence, closed-door testimony and alleged destruction of employee chat logs.
Google’s lucrative agreements with device makers
Mehta’s decision focused on exclusive agreements that Google made with device makers. During trial it was revealed that Google has paid billions of dollars a year to phone makers, like Apple and Samsung, and web browsers, like Mozilla, which runs Firefox.
Those deals meant Google got the prize spot of being the default search engine on those companies’ devices and products.
In 2021, Google spent a total of $26.3 billion to ensure it was the default search engine, according to witness testimony during the trial. Apple, which had the most lucrative deal, was paid around $18 billion that same year, according to the New York Times.
Mehta wrote in his opinion that these agreements meant that Google had “a major, largely unseen advantage over its rivals.”
DuckDuckGo is a much smaller rival. Kamyl Bazbaz, the company’s senior vice president of public affairs, said she applauds the landmark decision.
“The journey ahead will be long,” Bazbaz said. “However, we know there is a pent up demand for alternatives in search and this ruling will support access to more options.”
Next steps for Google and other Big Tech companies
Mehta’s ruling didn’t come with sanctions for Google. Another trial will take place where remedies will be issued. Those could range from fines to Google being forced to restructure.
George Hay, a law professor at Cornell University and former chief of commerce for the Justice Department’s antitrust division, said it’s pretty clear what the judge will mandate.
“The remedy here is pretty obvious,” Hay said. “He's going to say those contracts with Apple and Samsung have to go away.”
Remedies will likely be a long way off — that's because all of the case’s appeals must be resolved before Google is forced to make any changes to its business practices.
The lawsuit against Google is just one of several recently brought by the Justice Department and the Federal Trade Commission. The government has sued Amazon, Apple and Facebook parent Meta over business practices the government says hurts both rivals and consumers.
Bill Kovacic, an antitrust law professor at the George Washington University Law School and a former chair of the Federal Trade Commission, said this win by the Justice Department could pave the way for those other lawsuits.
“It's a crucial foundation for the government's current effort to prosecute misconduct by dominant tech companies,” he said.
Editor's note: Google, Apple and DuckDuckGo are among NPR's financial supporters.
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