The blockbuster case is said to be among the biggest challenges against a tech giant since the US DOJ sued Microsoft in 1998 over its market dominance for personal computers
The US Justice Department and a coalition of state attorneys general on Tuesday, September 12, will begin a
Google has grabbed a 90% market share in search in the US in recent years, according to government estimates. The government said the browser agreements – steering billions of web queries to Google every day – have resulted in less choice for consumers and less innovation.Google sees things much differently. The company, which maintains that it did not violate antitrust law, said in a January court filing that its browser agreements were “legitimate competition” and not “illicit exclusion.
It’s generally not illegal for a business to make an arrangement with one customer that excludes others. Such exclusive deals indeed are common, and they don’t garner much regulatory scrutiny when a company lacking market power can’t meaningfully affect competition. Such an order could have significant business implications for Google. For example, the government said in its lawsuit that the court could break up the company as a fix.