A federal judge ruled Monday that Google acted as a monopoly and violated antitrust law related to its search business, a major blow to the tech giant.
Judge Amit Mehta of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia found in a 286-page opinion that Google abused antitrust law to assert dominance over other search platforms. The judgment came after a 10-week trial last year in the case, which began when the Justice Department and states sued the company in 2020.
“Google is a monopolist, and it has acted as one to maintain its monopoly,” Mehta wrote.
Google, which handles 90% of global internet searches, was found culpable because it paid other companies, such as smartphone giants Apple and Samsung, billions of dollars to allow Google to automatically handle searches on those platforms.
The government’s argument, which Mehta agreed with, was that Google’s competition was unduly suppressed because of the billions of dollars in payments that it used to maintain its search dominance. Those contracts were enough to block out competitors, such as Microsoft’s Bing search engine.
Some legal experts believe this case will set a precedent in other government-run antitrust cases against big tech companies.
While the Monday ruling found Google at fault, it didn’t contain any legal remedies or punishments for the findings.
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A separate proceeding will likely be held to determine what penalties the tech giant should incur for its anticompetitive behavior, according to CNN.
In a statement, White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said, “This pro-competition ruling is a victory for the American people. As President Biden and Vice President Harris have long said, Americans deserve an internet that is free, fair, and open for competition."
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