A U.S. judge ruled on Monday that Google violated antitrust laws by spending billions of dollars to create an illegal monopoly, effectively becoming the world’s default search engine. This marks a significant victory for federal authorities challenging Big Tech’s market dominance.
The ruling sets the stage for a second trial to explore potential remedies, which could include breaking up Google’s parent company
Alphabet, potentially reshaping the online advertising landscape that Google has dominated for years. It also provides a boost to U.S. antitrust enforcers who are aggressively prosecuting Big Tech, a sector that has faced criticism from across the political spectrum.
“The court reaches the following conclusion: Google is a monopolist, and it has acted as one to maintain its monopoly,” U.S. District Judge Amit Mehta, Washington, D.C., wrote. Google controls about 90% of the online search market and 95% on smartphones.
The “remedy” phase could be lengthy, potentially followed by appeals to the U.S. Court of Appeals, the District of Columbia Circuit, and the U.S. Supreme Court. The legal proceedings could extend into next year or even as far as 2026.
Shares of Alphabet dropped 4.5% on Monday amid a broader decline in tech stocks, as concerns over a potential recession impacted the wider market. Google advertising accounted for 77% of Alphabet’s total sales in 2023.
Alphabet announced plans to appeal Mehta’s ruling, stating, “This decision recognizes that Google offers the best search engine but concludes that we shouldn’t be allowed to make it easily available.”
U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland described the ruling as “a historic win for the American people,” emphasizing that “no company—no matter how large or influential—is above the law.”
White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre echoed this sentiment, calling the “pro-competition ruling a victory for the American people” and asserting that “Americans deserve an internet that is free, fair, and open for competition.”
Mehta pointed out that Google paid $26.3 billion in 2021 alone to ensure its search engine remained the default on smartphones and browsers, thus maintaining its dominant market share.
“The default is extremely valuable real estate,” Mehta wrote. “Even if a new entrant were positioned from a quality standpoint to bid for the default when an agreement expires, such a firm could compete only if it were prepared to pay partners upwards of billions of dollars in revenue share and make them whole for any revenue shortfalls resulting from the change.”
He added, “Google, of course, recognizes that losing defaults would dramatically impact its bottom line. For instance, Google has projected that losing the Safari default would result in a significant drop in queries and billions of dollars in lost revenues.”
The ruling is the first major decision in a series of cases taking on alleged monopolies in Big Tech. This case, filed by the Trump administration, went before a judge from September to November of last year.
“A forced divestiture of the search business would sever Alphabet from its largest source of revenue. But even losing its capacity to strike exclusive default agreements could be detrimental for Google,” said Emarketer senior analyst Evelyn Mitchell-Wolf, who said a drawn-out legal process would delay any immediate effects for consumers.
In the past four years, federal antitrust regulators have also filed lawsuits against Meta Platforms, Amazon.com, and Apple, alleging that these companies have unlawfully maintained monopolies. All of these cases were initiated during the administration of former President Donald Trump.
Senator Amy Klobuchar, a Democrat who chairs the Senate Judiciary Committee’s antitrust subcommittee, highlighted that the case’s progression across different administrations indicates strong bipartisan support for antitrust enforcement.
“It’s a huge victory for the American people that antitrust enforcement is alive and well when it comes to competition,” she stated, adding that “Google is a rampant monopolist.”
When the Google search case was filed in 2020, it marked the first time in a generation that the U.S. government accused a major corporation of holding an illegal monopoly. Previously, Microsoft settled with the Justice Department in 2004 over allegations that it had forced its Internet Explorer web browser on Windows users.
