Google Is Getting the Antitrust Treatment It Deserves
A U.S. suit against Google’s search engine and its exclusionary arrangements with partners such as Apple is a good place to start Big Tech’s comeuppance.
Google’s search engine is being targeted in a landmark suit as “the monopoly gatekeeper of the internet.”
Photographer: Torsten Silz/DDP/AFP via Getty Images
The government’s quest to rein in Big Tech just took a major step forward. Two weeks after the House antitrust subcommittee issued its landmark report outlining the anticompetitive abuses of the top players, the Department of Justice made its long-awaited move against Google.
The DOJ’s antitrust division announced Tuesday that it is suing Google parent Alphabet Inc. over antitrust law violations surrounding its search engine, saying the company has become “the monopoly gatekeeper of the internet.” The landmark case alleges Google abused its market-dominant position and stifled competitors, specifically citing its exclusionary distribution agreements with Apple Inc. and other technology companies that made its search engine the default option on mobile devices and browsers. Google, in a blog post rebuttal, called the suit "deeply flawed," adding consumers choose to use its free search engine because they prefer it. Eleven Republican state attorneys general signed on to the case.