The watershed antitrust trial pitting the US government against Google begins on Tuesday in a Washington district court, as the government is set to make its case that the tech giant illegally abused its power to monopolize internet search. It is the biggest test of antitrust law in decades, and the first such case against Google to go to trial.
Big tech companies and regulators are closely watching the trial, which could force a shift in how the industry is allowed to operate. Its outcome could reshape how the public accesses and interacts with the internet, or embolden Google to pursue an even tighter grip on the market.
The trial is set to last ten weeks, as the government makes its case that Google leveraged its market power and wealth to strangle competition. Google spent billions on deals with companies such as Apple and Samsung to make itself the default search browser on their devices, which the government alleges shut out competition and allowed Google to attain a monopoly on searching the internet.
Google denies the justice department’s allegations. The company’s longtime chief legal officer, Kent Walker, has argued that consumers can still freely use any rival search engines and that Google’s services represent only a fraction of the ways that people browse the internet.
Google also claims its industry dominance – the government alleges it has about a 90% share of the US search market – is the result of providing a better product than its competitors.
Judge Amit Mehta, an Obama appointee from 2014, will hear the case and decide on a ruling. There is no jury in the trial. It’s unclear what punitive measures Google would face if found guilty of violating antitrust law.
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The case has drawn comparisons to the justice department’s 1998 antitrust suit against Microsoft, which resulted in a marquee trial that ended with a judge ordering Microsoft be broken up into separate companies. That order was later overturned, with the government and Microsoft later agreeing to a watered-down settlement.