Judge rules “Google is a monopolist”
A federal judge ruled on Monday that Google violated Section 2 of the Sherman Antitrust Act by maintaining a monopoly in the internet search and advertising markets. In his 286-page opinion, Judge Amit Mehta wrote that, “Google is a monopolist, and it has acted as one to maintain its monopoly.”
Big victory for DOJ
The decision represents a major victory for the Department of Justice, which accused Google of illegally preserving its monopoly among search engines, in part by paying companies such as Apple and Samsung billions of dollars to have Google as the default browsers on their products.
Could impact other antitrust lawsuits
This is the first case the DOJ has brought against Big Tech since going after Microsoft in 2000. But the DOJ has also filed monopolization lawsuits against Amazon, Apple, and Meta. This Google ruling could significantly influence those cases.
Being big is not automatically bad
Section 2 of the Sherman Act does not prohibit bigness per se. Rather, to prove a violation of the statute, the government has to establish two elements: First, that the defendant has monopoly power in a relevant market and, second, that the defendant has created or maintained its monopoly power through exclusionary conduct. Thus, in ruling against Google, Judge Mehta found that not only did it have monopoly power in the general search services and general search text advertising markets, but also, that it had engaged in exclusionary conduct to maintain its monopoly power in those markets. You can read the District Court’s opinion.
John Cardinal Parks has over 40 years of experience representing clients in complex commercial litigation matters and creating legal solutions to complex business problems. John has first chair jury and bench trial experience in dozens of cases and has briefed and argued numerous cases to federal and state courts of appeals.
