US sues monopolist Google for violating antitrust laws

In the biggest antitrust case against a tech company in two decades the US Department of Justice and 11 state Attorneys General on Tuesday sued monopolist Google alleging the tech giant has abused its market position in the domain of online searchCharging the tech giant with anticompetitive practices in search and search advertising the civil antitrust lawsuit was filed in the US District Court for the District of Columbia to stop Google from unlawfully maintaining monopolies through anticompetitive and exclusionary practices in the search and search advertising markets and to remedy the competitive harmsCompetition in this industry is vitally important which is why todays challenge against Google the gatekeeper of the Internet for violating antitrust laws is a monumental case both for the Department of Justice and for the American people said Attorney General William BarrThis lawsuit strikes at the heart of Googles grip over the internet for millions of American consumers advertisers small businesses and entrepreneurs beholden to an unlawful monopolist Barr said in a statementGoogle reacted saying the lawsuit by the Department of Justice is deeply flawed because people use Google because they choose to not because theyre forced to or because they cant find alternativesThis lawsuit would do nothing to help consumers To the contrary it would artificially prop up lowerquality search alternatives raise phone prices and make it harder for people to get the search services they want to use argued Kent Walker SVP Global Affairs and Chief Legal Officer at GoogleThe US Department of Justice said that as one of the wealthiest companies on the planet with a market value of 1 trillion Google is the monopoly gatekeeper to the internet for billions of users and countless advertisers worldwideFor years Google has accounted for almost 90 per cent of all search queries in the United States and has used anticompetitive tactics to maintain and extend its monopolies in search and search advertising it saidGoogle said it is confident that a court will conclude that this suit doesnt square with either the facts or the lawAmerican antitrust law is designed to promote innovation and help consumers not tilt the playing field in favour of particular competitors or make it harder for people to get the services they want Walker notedA Congressional report published earlier this month accused Google of favouring its own products in search results a similar charge levied by the antitrust competition authorities in EuropeLast year the EU antitrust regulators fined Googles parent company Alphabet 17 billion for unfairly restricting rivals from displaying ads on its platform via third parties using its AdSense tool Google was also fined a record 5 billion by European antitrust authorities in 2018The antitrust case against Google is the biggest one against a tech company since the Microsoft case in 1998The participating state Attorneys General offices represent Arkansas Florida Georgia Indiana Kentucky Louisiana Mississippi Missouri Montana South Carolina and TexasThe complaint alleged that Google has entered into a series of exclusionary agreements that collectively lock up the primary avenues through which users access search engines and thus the internetThis requires that Google be set as the preset default general search engine on billions of mobile devices and computers worldwide and in many cases prohibiting preinstallation of a competitorThe complaint alleged that Googles anticompetitive practices have had harmful effects on competition and consumersThe tech giant said that the bigger point is that people dont use Google because they have to they use it because they choose toKeep scrolling to read more newsCatch up on all the latest Crime National International and Hatke news here Also download the new midday Android and iOS apps to get latest updates MidDay is now on Telegram Click here to join our channel middayinfomedialtd and stay updated with the latest newsThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever