Is Google's looming monopoly trial a watershed moment for Big Tech?
The WeekSep 06, 2023
As the US Justice Dept. (DOJ) is set to bring its antitrust lawsuit against Google on Tuesday, rivals of the tech giant — such as search engine DuckDuckGo — will be watching as the US government argues that Google uses unfair tactics to dominate internet searches. The case will be held before the US District Court for the District of Columbia.
The case will be overseen by Judge Amit Mehta, who was appointed by former Pres. Barack Obama in 2014. Mehta, who graduated law school a year before Google was founded, previously worked as a criminal defense attorney in San Francisco, Calif., and Washington, DC.
Even though Judge Mehta narrowed the scope of this case, the core argument of this lawsuit leaves Google at extreme risk of facing an antitrust ruling against it. Consequences for such a historic ruling could include forcing the tech giant to restructure its company as well as massive fines. Bringing this case to court is already a win for the Davids of the world, and the Goliaths should be worried about the momentum it builds.
While smaller search engines are understandably upset that they can't become a default web browser, the reason Google gets prioritized over others is that it provides the cheapest and most efficient internet search process. Antitrust law is supposed to protect against companies monopolizing an industry to raise prices, but Google only makes its products more accessible and affordable.
There's a 50% chance that iPhones will have a default search provider other than Google by July 2028, according to the Metaculus prediction community.