How Google’s Antitrust Case Could Affect You – Augustman Malaysia

Google has once again found itself embroiled in controversy, this time involving the U.S. Department of Justice (DoJ).

In a recent ruling by a federal judge, Google was found guilty of monopolizing the search and advertising industry in the United States and other regions. The ruling found that the software giant violated Section 2 of the U.S. government’s Sherman Act, citing Google as a monopolist that tried everything in its power to maintain its position in the market.

The Google antitrust case, which has been circulating in courts since 2023, has included an assessment of all of the company’s deals with several key tech players, such as Apple, Mozilla, Samsung and others – discouraging competitors from trying to find alternatives and solutions.

Now that the verdict has been handed down, what matters is how the ruling will affect the common man. Will we see the end of Google and its dominance? Or will the US government find a way to manage Google’s services and how they reach the masses?

Let’s take a closer look at the U.S. Department of Justice ruling and how the outcome of the antitrust case against Google could change the way we use traditional search engines every day.

What’s at stake in Google’s antitrust lawsuit, which accuses the search giant of having a monopoly

The U.S. government filed an antitrust lawsuit against Google in 2020, accusing the software giant of monopolizing the market and stifling competition. Federal Judge Amit Mehta, who oversaw the case, ruled that “Google is a monopoly and has acted like a monopoly to maintain its monopoly.”

Mehta’s ruling found that Google has a monopoly on general search services and general text search advertising.

“Google’s partners have repeatedly concluded that changing the default GSEs or pursuing greater flexibility in search offerings is financially unviable because it would mean sacrificing hundreds of millions, if not billions, of dollars that Google pays them in revenue share. These are Fortune 500 companies and have nowhere to turn but Google,” he wrote.

Google’s distribution agreements were found to be exclusive and have anticompetitive effects on its rivals. The search giant also failed to provide valid pre-competitive justifications for the agreements. The court also found that Google charges super-competitive prices for generic text ads on its search engines, allowing it to earn monopoly profits.

What will happen to Google Search and Advertising now?

The U.S. Department of Justice has only learned of the commitments and has not yet discussed remedies. There is speculation that the government could ask Google to cease certain business practices, split its search division, or impose additional rules to govern the company’s business practices until its monopoly is ended.

Google, however, plans to appeal the ruling. “This decision recognizes that Google offers the best search engine, but says we shouldn’t be able to easily share it. As this process continues, we will continue to focus on building products that people find helpful and easy to use,” says Kent Walker, Google’s global president.

How might this ruling impact you?

While the ruling applies to Google’s search and advertising businesses, the impact on consumers could be significant.

If Google’s monopoly is challenged, consumers will likely enjoy the luxury of choosing their search engines. Phone browsers will no longer default to Google Search unless Google has a deal with the developer. The same goes for all web searches on iPhones, iPads, and Macs—all rely on Google to return results.

With a more uniform market share of advertising, consumers could choose search engines that prioritize user privacy over profits and accessibility. Upcoming products like OpenAI’s SearchGPT could change the future of web search.

(Hero and Featured Image Credit: Courtesy of Brett Jordan via Unsplash)