Judge Declares Google Search a Monopoly Powerhouse

The highly anticipated decision comes nearly a year after the start of a trial pitting the U.S. Justice Department against Google.

WASHINGTON — A judge on Monday ruled that Google’s ubiquitous search engine has been illegally exploiting its dominance to squash competition and stifle innovation. This seismic decision could shake up the internet landscape significantly.

U.S. District Judge Amit Mehta’s ruling arrives almost a year after the commencement of this pivotal antitrust showdown, marking the biggest case of its kind in 25 years.

Voluminous evidence, including testimonies from executives at Google, Microsoft, and Apple, was reviewed during the 10-week trial last year. Mehta issued his ruling three months after closing arguments were presented in early May.

This verdict is a substantial setback for Google and its parent company, Alphabet Inc. They argued that their popularity is driven by consumers’ preference for a highly effective search engine. Currently, Google processes about 8.5 billion search queries daily worldwide, according to a recent study by investment firm BOND.

Google will almost certainly appeal this decision. The case could ultimately reach the U.S. Supreme Court.

For now, the decision validates the Justice Department’s antitrust regulators, who initiated this lawsuit nearly four years ago. This legal effort has intensified during President Joe Biden’s administration, following its launch in Donald Trump’s presidency.

The case painted Google as a technological goliath that deliberately stifled competition to maintain its search engine’s dominance. The Justice Department contended that Google’s monopoly allows it to overcharge advertisers while investing insufficiently in improving its service, which detrimentally impacts consumers.

Google dismissed these claims, noting that users have historically switched search engines if dissatisfied. For example, Yahoo was the most popular search engine in the 1990s before Google’s rise.

Judge Mehta’s finding of an illegal monopoly ushers in a new legal phase to determine corrective actions or penalties to promote a fair competitive environment.

This could lead to a wide-ranging order dismantling parts of Google’s internet empire or limiting its annual spending of over $20 billion to secure its default search engine status on devices like the iPhone. Alternatively, the judge might mandate only minor changes to ensure fair competition.

A significant industry shift could benefit Microsoft, which faced its own antitrust battle in the late 1990s over its Windows operating system. That case opened doors for competitors, including Google, after its 1998 founding. A decisive ruling against Google could similarly boost Microsoft, now valued over $3 trillion compared to Alphabet’s $2 trillion.

Besides bolstering Microsoft’s Bing search engine, the ruling could impact Google’s position during a critical AI technology pivot. Both companies are early AI leaders, and this legal decision could influence their future competition.

Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella, a key Justice Department witness, lamented Google’s restrictive deals with Apple and others that hindered Bing’s progress, despite over $100 billion in investments since 2009.

“You get up in the morning, you brush your teeth and you search on Google,” Nadella remarked during testimony. “Everybody talks about the open web, but there is really the Google web.”

Nadella also expressed concern about the need for antitrust intervention to prevent worsening conditions as AI becomes more integrated into search functions.

Beyond this case, Google faces additional legal threats. Another federal trial is slated in Virginia this September over allegations that Google’s advertising technology forms an illegal monopoly.