Google Gets Gnashed in Court Finding
In a massive court ruling on Monday, following a 10-week trial, a U.S. judge found that Google, and its holding company Alphabet had violated US antitrust law. The Judge stated that Google had spent billions of dollars in order to create an illegal monopoly in order to crush competitors in order to become, and to
Google Gets Gnashed in Court Finding
In a massive court ruling on Monday, following a 10-week trial, a U.S. judge found that Google, and its holding company Alphabet had violated US antitrust law. The Judge stated that Google had spent billions of dollars in order to create an illegal monopoly in order to crush competitors in order to become, and to maintain it’s dominant monopoly as the world’s default search engine. This was the first big win, in a string of lawsuits filed against the global giant by federal authorities.
This landmark finding is a major blow to the Tech company and could see Alphabet facing a challenge that may well result in court action that would see the dissolving of its structure
“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., stated in his judgement. Google controls about 90% of the online search market and 95% on smartphones.
There is no clarity yet what penalties Google and Alphabet will face as a result of the decision. The fines or other remedies are still to be decided in a future hearing, however the US government has asked for structural relief as remedy, which may well result in the break-up of the company.
Alphabet, in a statement said that it will appeal the ruling and the matter may take years of legal process to come to finality. “This decision recognises that Google offers the best search engine, but concludes that we shouldn’t be allowed to make it easily available,” the statement said.
US Attorney General Merrick Garland, called the ruling as a “historic win for the American people”. “No company – no matter how large or influential – is above the law,” he said
Google was sued by the US Department of Justice in 2020 over its control of about 90% of the online search market.It is one of several lawsuits that have been filed against the big tech companies as US antitrust authorities attempt to strengthen competition in the industry.
Alphabet share prices have fallen by 15,67% in the last month and by 4,6% on Monday.
