Federal judge in the United States has, on Monday, ruled that Google violated antitrust laws by maintaining monopoly over online search,
marking a landmark ruling against a technology giant in the modern internet era.
A US judge ruled that Google engaged in monopolistic behaviour to eliminate competition and maintain its dominance of internet search and search advertising, according to BBC.
This verdict is a big blow for Google‘s parent company Alphabet, and qualitatively, could change the operational strategies of leading tech firms.
The United States Department of Justice (DoJ) had earlier instituted a case against Google as part of a wave of similar antitrust suits involving the department including Apple, Amazon and Meta, the owner of Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp.
Google was accused by the DoJ of monopolising online search by paying other companies like Apple and Samsung billions of dollars yearly to have Google embedded in their devices as the automatic search engine.
This ruling comes after the prosecution claimed, in the 10-week trial in Washington DC, that Google pays billions of dollars to have its search engine installed as a default on Apple, Samsung, Mozilla, and other devices.
The US averred that Google spends more than $10 million annually to enjoy this aspect, locking users’ data to cement their hold in the market.
