Our Bureau
Washington, DC
A recent ruling by US District Judge Amit Mehta found that Google has been maintaining an illegal monopoly on online search and related advertising. The judge concluded that Google paid billions of dollars to secure exclusive agreements, ensuring it remained the default search engine on various platforms. This decision is a significant blow to Google and could lead to major changes in how tech giants operate.
“The court reaches the following conclusion: Google is a monopolist, and it has acted as one to maintain its monopoly,” US District Judge Amit Mehta, Washington, DC, wrote.
Judge Amit P. Mehta was appointed to the United States District Court for the District of Columbia on December 22, 2014. Born in Patan, India, Judge Mehta received his B.A. in Political Science and Economics from Georgetown University in 1993 and his J.D. from the University of Virginia School of Law in 1997.
As per reports, in 2021 alone Google paid $26.3 billion to ensure that smartphones and browsers keep its search engine as the default, to maintain its market dominance.
Attorney General Merrick Garland after this judgement, stated “This victory against Google is an historic win for the American people.” He added, “No company — no matter how large or influential — is above the law.”
The White House hailed the judgment as “a victory for the American people.”
White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said in a statement, “As President Biden and Vice President Harris have long said, Americans deserve an internet that is free, fair, and open for competition.”
Google is planning to appeal the decision and emphasize that it recognized Google as the internet’s best search engine, an argument Google had made in court as the reason consumers give preference to Google over the competition.
