Google Illegally Maintains Search Monopoly, Judge Rules in Siding With DOJ

variety.com:

Todd Spangler NY Digital Editor Google broke the law by inking multibillion-dollar deals to make its search engine the default on web browsers and smartphones including devices from Apple and Samsung, a federal judge ruled Monday.

Judge Amit Mehta of U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia said Google’s payments to partners to be the default search engine — estimated to be more than $26 billion in 2021 — effectively blocked any other competitor from succeeding in the market.

In a 277-page ruling Monday (available at this link) in the antitrust case brought by the Justice Department, he wrote that Google had abused its monopoly in the internet search business. “Google is a monopolist, and it has acted as one to maintain its monopoly,” Judge Mehta wrote in the ruling.

The internet giant violated Section 2 of the Sherman Act “by maintaining its monopoly in two product markets in the United States — general search services and general text advertising — through its exclusive distribution agreements.” The decision Monday did not include remedies for Google’s behavior.