Google is found guilty by US courts for monopolizing online searches

On Monday (5), the United States Court found Google guilty of breaking laws in order to maintain its monopoly in the search engine. The case found that the company promoted anti-competitive practices by violating antitrust legislation.

According to District of Columbia Judge Amit P. Mehta, in an action initiated in 2020 by the Department of Justice, Google is a monopolist and has acted to remain so.

It was clear to the judge that the company was preventing its rivals from competing. Among the findings, it was observed that Google manipulated results and made manufacturers sell their products with the search engine already installed, mainly on smartphones. To this end, it spent billions of dollars so that products from Apple and Samsung, for example, were sold with the search engine already installed, as well as so that the search engine was the default in browsers such as Mozilla Firefox.

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The fine to be paid is yet to be determined. In addition, the company may have to modify its business in order to stimulate competition in the segment in which it operates.

The decision is considered a major event in terms of setting limits on technology giants, the so-called big techs, including Meta (Facebook, WhatsApp), Amazon and Apple. The trial was closely followed by these companies, which may be the next to be assessed for abusive business practices.

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In the case of Google, the situation is aggravated because, by holding the online search system almost exclusively in several countries, the company’s directors control, to a certain extent, what is or is not accessible to the population, as well as being able to impose and influence trends without any transparency about their actions.

Google’s parent company Alphabet will appeal, so the dispute is likely to continue for years to come. Google is estimated to have 90% of the global search market and is the leading online advertising engine.

*With international agencies