Google loses antitrust case, judge calls company a ‘monopolist’

Google has suffered a major court defeat that could change the way it does its search business. Judge Amit P. Mehta of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia ruled that the Android developer violated U.S. antitrust law by trying to remain the default search engine on devices and web browsers.

In 2022, the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) charged Google with anticompetitive conduct. The DOJ argued that Google’s practice of paying companies billions of dollars to keep Google search as the default search option violated antitrust laws. One of the biggest revelations in the case was the realization that Google paid Apple a whopping $20 billion for that default position, while sharing 36% of Safari search ad revenue with Apple.

In today’s court ruling, Judge Mehta agreed with the government’s contention that Google’s actions amounted to monopolistic conduct. The judge also agreed that Google collected consumer data to ensure its search engine dominance and illegally protected that monopoly through the advertising that appears in search results. According to Judge Mehta:

After carefully considering and weighing the witness testimony and evidence, the court reached the following conclusion: Google is a monopoly and operates like a monopoly to maintain that monopoly.

While this decision has major implications for Google and how it does business, it is not the only company that will be affected by the ruling. As mentioned earlier, Apple was receiving billions from Google as part of its contract. If Google is forced to end this practice, Apple will lose all of that money.

Although the judge has spoken out, the fate of Google is still unknown. A decision on how Google will be punished has not yet been made. Of course, the tech giant still has the option to appeal the decision, which we believe is highly likely.