On Thursday, the world’s largest search engine and advertising company, Google, provided a preview of a primary component of its defense in court by presenting data indicating that users happily continue to use its search engine when it is pre-installed on their devices and rapidly switch from Bing or other search engines that they like less.
In a trial that began on Tuesday, the United States Department of Justice contended that the Alphabet (GOOGL.O) subsidiary sought arrangements with mobile carriers to secure powerful default placements on cellphones to dominate search. The government contends that the outcome of this antitrust trial, the most significant one in several decades, will influence the course the internet will take in the next years.
On Thursday, the interrogation of Antonio Rangel, who is a professor of behavioral biology at the California Institute of Technology, was brought to a close by the government. According to Rangel’s argument, customers will likely continue using the pre-installed web browsers on their PCs and mobile phones as the default application.
According to the government, Google paid wireless carriers like AT&T (T.N.), device makers like Apple (AAPL.O), and browser makers like Mozilla $10 billion annually to be the default search engine to fight off competitors and keep its market share close to 90%.
During the cross-examination of Rangel, a lawyer for Google named John Schmidtlein brought up several instances in which many user search queries were sent to Google even though another search engine was set as the default.
Schmidtlein also presented an internal Microsoft document from several years ago that discussed the usage of search by individuals who carried an early generation of smart devices known as a BlackBerry. According to the paper, Verizon BlackBerries shipped with Bing as the default search engine, AT&T and T-Mobile BlackBerries shipped with Yahoo, and Sprint BlackBerries shipped with Google.
According to the document, whenever users intended to search, they always turned to Google regardless of the default setting. Even though Bing was set as the default search engine for Verizon BlackBerries, 91% of all searches were conducted on Google.
According to Google, the government’s assertion that the company broke the law to maintain its large market share is incorrect. It contends that the quality of its search engine is the primary factor for its enormous popularity and that any payments made to wireless providers or other partners were appropriate forms of compensation for their roles as partners.
Big Tech has been accused of buying or strangling tiny competitors, but it has defended itself by highlighting that its services are free, as in the case of Google, or affordable, as in the case of Amazon.com (AMZN.O). This debate has huge ramifications for Big Tech.
According to financial filings, internet advertising accounted for over three-quarters of Google’s revenue in 2022. The government contends that Google’s dominance in the search industry has allowed it to monopolize certain parts of online advertising.
Additionally, the government has asserted that Google engaged in unlawful activity to safeguard communications about the payments.
If Google has violated the law, United States District Judge Amit Mehta, who presides presides, will decide how to settle the dispute. He might give Google an order to sell assets or stop engaging in practices that he has deemed criminal.
Microsoft (MSFT.O), filed in 1998, and AT&T, filed in 1974, are two examples of previous important antitrust lawsuits. The separation of AT&T in 1982 is regarded as laying the groundwork for the present mobile phone market, and the legal battle with Microsoft is credited with paving the way for Google and other companies to establish a presence on the internet.
