Google illegally monopolized the search engine market, ruled Judge Amit P. Mehta of the US District Court for the District of Columbia. According to a 286-page ruling, the company paid $26 billion to smartphone and web browser owners to make its search engine the default option, preventing competitors from gaining a foothold in the market.
Mehta also ruled that Google does not have a monopoly in the market for search engine advertising, noting that Amazon and Walmart have begun offering advertising related to searches on their own websites. However, Google does have a monopoly over search text ads, which appear at the top of the results page.
This is the first time a US District Court has found a tech company guilty in over two decades. The judge has yet to announce what changes it will seek, but we might see Google offering Android users in the US the option to pick a search engine when setting up a new device.
Other decisions might include separating the search business from Alphabet’s other products, like Android or Chrome; if that is ordered, we might see the biggest forced breakup of a US company since AT&T was dismantled in 1984 and ordered to sell some of its business to smaller independent regional phone companies.
The full report revealed that Google systematically paid Samsung and Apple to use its search engine, which drove the company’s value to the sky and brought in more than $300 billion in revenue, largely generated by ads within the search engine. This also affected the market share, as Google held 80% in 2009 but grew to 90% in 2020.
Google said it will appeal the decision, arguing that its success is based on people preferring its “superior products.”