Massive Loss: Judge Rules Google Has an Illegal Monopoly

“Google is a monopolist, and it has acted as one to maintain its monopoly,” said US District Judge Amit Mehta.

Google violated Section 2 of the Sherman Act. A judge ruled that Google engaged in illegal practices to preserve its search engine monopoly, delivering a major antitrust victory to the Justice Department in its efforts to rein in Silicon Valley technology giants.

In conclusion, the judge ruled that “Google has violated Section 2 of the Sherman Act by maintaining its monopoly in two product markets in the United States—general search service and general text advertising—through its exclusive distribution agreements. The court thus holds that Google is liable as to Counts I and III of the U.S. Plaintiffs’ Amended Complaint.”

Perhaps it will lead to some accountability in the search results that favor Kamala Harris, but don’t count on it.

Donald Trump’s DoJ brought the case. and Biden continued it. Trump said, “Google is crooked. It’s horrible.”

“Google is a monopolist, and it has acted as one to maintain its monopoly,” said US District Judge Amit Mehta.

Google has announced it will appeal.

It was a big win but not clear-cut for the government either.

The DOJ/state cases against Google on their search default deals and SA360 ad tool will move forward, but the court rejected Colorado state arguments that Google’s specialized search results violate antitrust law.

Google’s statement:

Here’s our statement on today’s decision in the DOJ case: “This decision recognizes that Google offers the best search engine but concludes that we shouldn’t be allowed to make it easily available. We appreciate the Court’s finding that Google is ‘the industry’s highest quality search engine, which has earned Google the trust of hundreds of millions of daily users,’ that Google ‘has long been the best search engine, particularly on mobile devices,’ ‘has continued to innovate in search’ and that ‘Apple and Mozilla occasionally assess Google’s search quality relative to its rivals and find Google’s to be superior.’

Given this, and that people are increasingly looking for information in more and more ways, we plan to appeal. As this process continues, we will remain focused on making products that people find helpful and easy to use.” – Kent Walker, President, Global Affairs.

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