Google has become the subject of an antitrust lawsuit launched by the US Department of Justice (DoJ).
On Tuesday in a briefing held by Deputy Attorney General Jeffrey Rosen, the DoJ said that the company is illegally maintaining a monopoly over online search services and related advertising in the quest for profit, and as such, rival companies are being denied the opportunity to compete effectively.
As noted by sister site CNET[1], digital advertising accounts for roughly 85% of Google's estimated annual sales of $160 billion.
The high-profile case, including the DoJ and 11 states, alleges that Google has violated Section 2 of the Sherman Act[2] following a 2019 investigation into "market-leading platforms" and their competitive practices. This act is not invoked every day -- the last major case involving Microsoft[3] in 1998 -- but the regulations can be used to tackle monopoly complaints.
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The complaint calls Google "a gateway to the Internet," and while does give Google credit for transforming from a small search engine to a technology giant, also accuses the company of "exclusionary practices that are harmful to competition."
Furthermore, the DoJ accuses the company of "exclusionary and interlocking agreements that exclude competitors," such as by preventing vendors from pre-loading rival search services on Android handsets through "illegal agreements."
"An antitrust response is necessary to protect consumers [...] and the next wave of innovation," Rosen commented.
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The DoJ said this case is "just beginning" and has already involved one of the largest teams in the department's history -- including legal and technology experts, as well as economists. While