Google Loses Search Antitrust Lawsuit
On Monday, a federal U.S. court declared that Google had an unlawful monopoly in the search and text advertising markets.
The government launched a major action in 2020, alleging that Google maintained its dominance in the general search industry by erecting significant hurdles to entry and a feedback loop. According to the court, Google broke the Sherman Act’s Section 2, which forbids monopolies.
This is the first anti-monopoly judgment in decades against a tech business.
In 2020, Google was the target of parallel but distinct antitrust lawsuits by the Department of Justice and a bipartisan coalition of attorneys general from 38 states and territories, headed by Colorado and Nebraska. The lawsuits were consolidated for pretrial objectives including evidence gathering.
The ruling was hailed as a «historic win for the American people» by Attorney General Merrick Garland.
On Monday, Alphabet’s shares dropped almost 4% as a result of a global stock market fall.
