Google’s search engine, one of the most profitable companies in history, is about to face its greatest challenge when the United States government prepares an antitrust suit accusing the company of crushing competition.
After a 14-month investigation, the Justice Department is focused on whether Google skews search results to favor its own products and whether it uses a heavy hand on user access to exclude rivals, according to people familiar with the matter. . .
stifle competition on the Internet. What started as a university research project in the late 1990s now generates around $ 100 billion in highly profitable revenue each year.
European competition regulators have fined Google billions of euros for violating antitrust laws. But US authorities have left the company largely intact since the Federal Trade Commission closed an investigation in early 2013 without taking any action. Now, Attorney General William Barr stands on the cusp of what could be America’s largest monopoly case since Microsoft Corp. They have gained about 5% this year.
Barr has been a key ally in Donald Trump’s crackdown on the tech giants. The president of the United States has criticized Internet companies for allegedly censoring conservative opinions online.
While some involved in the Google case expected it to be filed next week, that time will likely be delayed, possibly until the following week, according to two people familiar with the matter. State attorneys general and Justice Department prosecutors have been discussing final preparations for the case this week in Washington.
Search distribution focuses on agreements with device manufacturers and other partners to provide Google search by default to users. In 2018, Goldman Sachs estimated that Google paid Apple Inc. $ 9 billion to install its search engine on Apple’s Safari web browser and other top locations on Apple devices.
It’s impossible for small search engine competitors to compete with Google’s deep pockets and outbid its bids for valuable locations like Apple’s browser, according to Gabriel Weinberg, CEO of DuckDuckGo, a privacy-focused search provider that has become complained to Google’s Justice Department.
During a recent hearing in Congress, Google executive Don Harrison argued that the company does not dominate the markets in which it operates. Google may lead when it comes to general searches, but for product inquiries and other business searches, consumers are more likely to start on Amazon. .com Inc. noted.
The Justice Department and the states are also investigating Google’s conduct in the ad technology market, where Google owns many of the systems that serve display ads on the Web. Some Democratic attorneys general briefed on the case want the Justice Department to include ad tech in the lawsuit and be able to file its own complaint after the November election, one of the people said. The Justice Department declined to comment.
American researchers have asked detailed questions about how to limit Google’s power in the search market, according to DuckDuckGo. In Europe, regulators have forced Google to offer consumers the ability to choose which search engine they use on Android phones.
Gene Kimmelman, a senior adviser at Public Knowledge, which urged the Justice Department this summer to investigate the conduct of Google. Google. Google. Google. Google around search. As a result, consumers have lost because rivals are effectively excluded from competing to build better search deals, he said.
The Justice Department could make a similar argument about Google today, said William Kovacic, a law professor at George Washington University and former chairman of the FTC.
“The arguments about demanding exclusivity as a way to exclude rivals are arguments that were very successful in the case of Microsoft,” he said.
