From CNET: The US Department of Justice on Tuesday filed a landmark lawsuit against Google that accuses the tech giant of illegally holding monopolies in search and search advertising, the culmination of a months-long investigation into alleged anticompetitive practices at the search giant. Eleven states are joining the suit.
The complaint accuses Google of violating antitrust laws by engaging in anticompetitive practices to preserve monopolies in search and search advertising, Jeff Rosen, US Deputy Attorney General, told reporters on a conference call.
The tech giant's dominance stems from its massive digital ad business, a juggernaut that brings in about 85% of the company's roughly $160 billion in annual sales. That operation is fueled by the company's iconic search engine, which processes around 90% of searches done online around the world and is considered some of the most prime real estate on the internet.
Tuesday's suit against Google marks the most high-profile case the US has brought against a tech company since the 1990s, when the DOJ and a collection of states accused Microsoft of a monopoly in the PC software market. The two sides settled in 2001.
The DOJ lawsuit comes as tech giants face a reckoning over their size and influence. Legislators and regulators are concerned over how that power might ultimately harm consumers, especially by choking off competition from smaller players in Silicon Valley. Aside from Google, rivals Apple, Amazon and Facebook are also under investigation by federal regulators and lawmakers. In July, Google CEO Sundar Pichai appeared virtually at a hearing before the House Judiciary Antitrust Subcommittee, alongside Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg, Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos and Apple CEO Tim Cook.
View: Full Article
