"Google is a monopolist, and it has acted as one to maintain its monopoly," US District Judge Amit Mehta said.
A federal judge has ruled that Google has an illegal monopoly over internet search in an anti-trust case. The ruling about the tech giant's capabilities came down on Monday.
“After having carefully considered and weighed the witness testimony and evidence, the court reaches the following conclusion: Google is a monopolist, and it has acted as one to maintain its monopoly,” US District Judge Amit Mehta said in the opinion. “It has violated Section 2 of the Sherman Act.”
Mehta gave the reasons for the decision as follows: "Specifically, the court holds that (1) there are relevant product markets for general search services and general search text ads; (2) Google has monopoly power in those markets; (3) Google’s distribution agreements are exclusive and have anticompetitive effects; and (4) Google has not offered valid procompetitive justifications for those agreements."
The decision added that the monology that Google has allows it to charge "supracompetitive prices for general search text ads" and that the company practicing this conduct has allowed the corporation "to earn monopoly profits."
Google's exclusive deals with Apple as well as other key players in the tech industry have allowed it to develop an anticompetitive mobile ecosystem, Mehta said. The company has taken advantage of vertically integrating its services across the industry, making it difficult for other competitors to get a foothold in the search market share. Google has also charged high prices for search ads on the internet search service; however, the judge did not find that the company had a monopoly on search ads, just for search itself.
All 50 states joined as plaintiffs in the case against Google and had sued the company under the Clayton Act, 15 U.S.C. § 26 on behalf of their citizens. Google said in a statement that it plans on appealing the decision. “As this process continues, we will remain focused on making products that people find helpful and easy to use,” said Kent Walker, Google’s president of global affairs.
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