US Government Accuses Google Of Violating Antitrust Law In Online Search Cases

Google pays billions of dollars annually to device manufacturers (photo: dock. pexels)

JAKARTA - The United States government argued on Tuesday 12 September that Google was not playing according to the rules in its efforts to maintain its dominance in online searches, paying $10 billion to ensure that small competitors did not get attention.

"This case is related to the future of the internet," said Kenneth Dintzer, who argued to the Department of Justice that Google from 2010 illegally maintained their monopoly.

The US Department of Justice accuses Google of paying billions of dollars annually to device manufacturers such as Apple Inc, wireless companies such as AT&T, and browser makers like Mozilla to provide Google's search engine market share of around 90%.

In addition, Dintzer said Google manipulated internet-placed ad auctions to raise prices for advertisers.

"Defaults are strong, scale important, and Google has illegally maintained monopoly for more than a decade," said Dintzer. "The consequences are without serious competition, Google is less innovating and paying less attention to other issues such as privacy."

Dintzer also said the department found evidence that Google had taken steps to protect communications about payments made to companies like Apple. "They know these deals violate the antitrust line," he said.

He showed a conversation where Google CEO, Sundar Pichai, requested that certain conversation history be turned off.

Google's defense is simple: they argue that their very high market share is not because they violate the law, but because they are fast and effective search engines. And it's also free.

Google lawyers will argue that consumers can delete Google apps from their devices or simply type Microsoft Bing, Yahoo, or DuckDuckGo into a browser to use alternative search engines. They will argue that consumers still choose Google because they rely on it to answer their questions and don't feel disappointed.

The opening of the trial in this trial took place in a federal court in Washington, DC. The trial is expected to last up to 10 weeks, with two stages. In the first phase, Judge Amit Mehta will decide whether Google has violated antitrust laws in managing search searches and advertising.

If Google is found to have violated the law, Judge Mehta will decide the best way to solve it. He might decide just to order Google to stop practices that have been considered illegal or he might order Google to sell assets.

The government, in its lawsuit, requested "the necessary structural convenience" but did not define it.

This legal battle has a huge impact on Big Tech, accused of buying or strangling small competitors, but has protected itself from many charges of violating antitrust law because of the services they provide to users are free, as Google does, or cheap, as Amazon.com.

Previous major antitrust hearings including Microsoft, which was proposed in 1998, and AT&T, were proposed in 1974. The dissolution of AT&T in 1982 was considered the beginning of the modern mobile phone industry, while fighting with Microsoft is considered to have opened up space for Google and others on the internet.