US judge rules that Google has an illegal monopoly on search

A U.S. judge has ruled that Google violated antitrust law, spending billions of dollars to create an illegal monopoly and become the world's default search engine. This is seen as the first big win for federal authorities taking on the Big Tech's market dominance and could potentially change the landscape of the online advertising world that Google has dominated for years. The ruling paves the way for a second trial to determine potential fixes, possibly including a breakup of Google parent Alphabet, which would change the landscape of the online advertising world that Google has dominated for years.

This indicates a green light to the antitrust enforcers of U.S. enforcers prosecuting Big Tech. “The court reaches the following conclusion: Google is a monopolist, and it has acted as one to maintain its monopoly,” U.S. District Judge Amit Mehta, Washington, D.C., wrote.

Google controls about 90% of the online search market and 95% on smartphones. It is noteworthy that Google advertising was 77% of Alphabet's total sales in 2023.

In his ruling Justice Mehta highlighted that the tech giant paid $26.3 billion in 2021 to maintain its dominance - so that its search engine is the default on smartphones and browsers.

“The default is extremely valuable real estate. Even if a new entrant were positioned from a quality standpoint to bid for the default when an agreement expires, such a firm could compete only if it were prepared to pay partners upwards of billions of dollars in revenue share and make them whole for any revenue shortfalls resulting from the change,” Mehta noted.

“Google, of course, recognizes that losing defaults would dramatically impact its bottom line. For instance, Google has projected that losing the Safari default would result in a significant drop in queries and billions of dollars in lost revenues,” he added.

“Even if a new entrant were positioned from a quality standpoint to bid for the default when an agreement expires, such a firm could compete only if it were prepared to pay partners upwards of billions of dollars in revenue share,” Judge Mehta wrote.

As of now, no penalties or fines have been charged for Google and Alphabet. There is a possibility that it will be decided in a future hearing. government has asked for “structural relief”.