The court has ordered U.S. regulators to propose punitive measures against Google for monopolistic practices in its search engine before the end of the year.
A federal judge has ruled that Google operates its search engine as an illegal monopoly and is set to decide on the sanctions next summer, which could include the possibility of breaking up the company.
On September 6, Judge Amit P. Mehta of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia directed the Department of Justice to submit a proposal for penalizing Google before the year ends. He also scheduled a trial hearing for March or April of the following year, which will inform the court’s decision on the sanctions set for August 2025.
John Schmidtlein, Google’s attorney, stated that the company needs a detailed proposal from the prosecutors to prepare an adequate defense.
If Judge Mehta’s schedule proceeds as planned, the decision on the sanctions will be made nearly five years after the Department of Justice filed the lawsuit in 2020.
This case, known as United States and others v. Google, is a landmark antitrust trial that began during the Trump administration and continued under the Biden administration. It represents one of the first major antitrust cases against a tech giant in recent years.
On August 5, Judge Mehta determined that Alphabet, Google’s parent company, had violated the Sherman Antitrust Act through practices designed to maintain its dominance in the search engine market.
The Sherman Antitrust Act, enacted in 1890, prohibits practices that create monopolies and restrict trade, aiming to promote fair competition and prevent companies from controlling prices.
Prosecutors accuse Google of paying device manufacturers to make its search engine the default on nearly all smartphones sold in the U.S., including Apple’s iPhones. This practice allegedly helped Google secure and maintain its dominant market share (nearly 90%), directing traffic to its advertising platform and other services.
Although the Department of Justice has not yet specified the severity of the proposed sanctions, the findings from the investigation have sparked discussions about significant changes to Google’s business practices.
Phil Weiser, Colorado’s Attorney General and one of the key drivers behind the antitrust lawsuit against Google in multiple states, recently revealed that his team is considering two options: breaking up Google or prohibiting the company from paying manufacturers to pre-install its search engine. The goal is to work with the prosecutors to develop a unified approach to address Google’s anticompetitive practices.
Additionally, the tech company faces other antitrust challenges, including an ongoing investigation by the European Union and a recent lawsuit filed by the online review company Yelp.
By: Nestor Castillo, ForAllTechNews Director
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