On Monday, a US judge ruled against Google in an antitrust lawsuit filed by the US Department of Justice in 2020. The lawsuit originated over claims that Google had built an illegal monopoly over the online search and advertising industry. It was stated that “Google is a monopolist, and it has acted as one to maintain its monopoly.” The decision is likely to cause great disruption to the organisation.
In court, it was heard that Google have made multibillion dollar deals to ensure that Google was the default search engine on device makers, such as Apple and Samsung’s, phones and tablets. More than $26 billion was paid to Apple in 2021 alone. This behaviour broke US antitrust law, with Google managing to occupy more than 90% of the online search and advertising industry through similar deals. Judge Amit Mehta stated that this created a monopoly over other search engines and unfairly suppressed competition.
At this stage, it is unclear what the implications will be for Google’s operations. However, the US Department of Justice requested ‘structural relief’ when filing its lawsuit. Therefore, sanctions may include Google having to break up its company or prevent it from making high value deals as it has done previously. Alternatively, the court may decide to take a similar approach to what has been taken by the EU in respect of the Digital Markets Act, whereby users encounter a ‘choice screen’ which prompts them to choose a browser. Additionally, it seems likely that a significant fine may be imposed onto Google.
A further trial will commence to determine what the remedy will be for the breaches in antitrust law. However, the date for this trial has not yet been decided. In the meantime, Google plans to appeal the ruling. We will be keeping an eye on whether this appeal is a success.
If you have any questions on the above, feel free to contact a member of the team at 0191 281 4000 or alternatively at legal@mcdanielslaw.com.
