‘Google is a monopolist’: US judge rules tech giant violated antitrust laws

A federal judge ruled on Monday that Google has violated antitrust laws while establishing its dominance over the internet search market.

The ruling by Judge Amit Mehta found that Google maintained a monopoly over search services and advertising, a conclusion that could reshape how people interact with the internet.

“After having carefully considered and weighed the witness testimony and evidence, the court reaches the following conclusion: Google is a monopolist, and it has acted as one to maintain its monopoly,” Mehta stated in his ruling.

This decision marks one of the most significant antitrust rulings in decades. It comes at the end of a high-stakes legal battle between the Department of Justice (DOJ) and one of the world’s most powerful tech companies.

The case is part of a broader trend where regulators, both in the U.S. and Europe, have intensified their scrutiny of major tech firms over monopolistic practices.

The trial and its implications

The trial, which began in September of last year, saw no jury, and Judge Mehta took a considerable amount of time to deliberate before reaching his conclusion. Closing arguments concluded in early May, and Mehta acknowledged the importance of the case for both Google and the public.

In response to the ruling , Google announced plans to appeal. Kent Walker, Google’s President of Global Affairs, noted that while the decision recognizes the superiority of Google’s search engine, it also unfairly restricts its availability.

“This decision recognizes that Google offers the best search engine, but concludes that we shouldn’t be allowed to make it easily available,” Walker said.

Judge Mehta praised the quality of the legal teams involved and highlighted the extensive amount of data exchanged during the discovery phase. “It’s shocking to me, or surprising to me, that a company would leave it to its employees to decide when to preserve documents,” Mehta remarked during the trial, criticizing Google for its record-keeping practices.

The ruling comes at a time of heightened scrutiny of big tech firms, with regulators increasingly focused on potential anticompetitive practices. Government prosecutors argued that Google’s dominance in the search market—estimated at around 90% in the U.S.—was achieved through illegal means.

The DOJ claimed that Google used its market position to crowd out competitors and boost its advertising revenues, spending billions annually on exclusive agreements with device manufacturers like Apple and Samsung.

Google’s defense and future challenges

Google’s defense argued that the company simply provides superior service and that its default search engine agreements did not constitute antitrust violations. The company also contended that a broader definition of the search market should include other tech giants like TikTok and Amazon.

Another contentious issue during the trial was Google’s practice of deleting internal communications and automatically setting chat histories to not retain messages. The DOJ alleged that this was a deliberate attempt by Google to conceal potentially damaging information.

Although Judge Mehta chose not to impose sanctions for the failure to preserve chat messages, he expressed concern about the company’s efforts to avoid creating a paper trail for regulators.

The case against Google , initially filed by the DOJ in 2020, was later expanded to include more than three dozen states and territories. During opening arguments, the government’s lawyer, Kenneth Dintzer, emphasized that the trial was about “the future of the internet.”

As the trial unfolded largely behind closed doors, critics accused Google of trying to suppress public discourse and media coverage. Google successfully petitioned to block public access to certain evidence and testimony, arguing that it could reveal trade secrets.

In the wake of the ruling, New York Attorney General Letitia James celebrated the decision as a major victory against unchecked corporate power. “This is a major victory to stop unchecked corporate power from stifling competition and controlling our data and privacy,” James posted on X.

Meanwhile, Google faces another antitrust lawsuit later this year, which will focus on its advertising practices and whether it has monopolized key advertising technologies. This upcoming case could further impact Google’s business practices and its influence over the digital landscape.