Google’s antitrust trials have resulted in another blow as US District judge Amit Mehta ruled that the tech giant has maintained its dominance in search through anticompetitive deals, preventing rivals from gaining ground.
The ruling comes after a trial in Mehta’s Washington, DC courtroom where the US Department of Justice accused Google of using partnerships with companies like Apple and Samsung to promote its search engine, making it the most widely used globally. Google defended itself by claiming it offered superior service and faced stiff competition from the likes of Microsoft.
While Mehta agreed with some of Google’s arguments, he ultimately rejected the claim that the company did not hold an illegal monopoly. The federal court in San Francisco had previously ruled Google’s Play app store as an illegal monopolist.
The impact of these rulings on Google’s business is yet to be seen. Mehta will conduct a separate trial to determine remedies in the search case, while a judge is considering penalties in the Play litigation. Changes made by Google in response to antitrust scrutiny have been costly in the past.
Both Google and the Department of Justice have not commented on the ruling as of now.
The roots of this case can be traced back to increased scrutiny of the tech industry during the Trump administration. The Justice Department’s lawsuit against Google filed in 2020 under Trump’s presidency became the first of many similar cases targeting Big Tech companies.
This is a developing story. Stay tuned for updates.