Google’s rivals get day in court in a meaningful U.S. antitrust trial begins. One of several Google competitors eyeing a once-in-a-generation antitrust trial slated to start on Tuesday is DuckDuckGo, which has long claimed that the internet search giant’s strategies have made it too difficult for users to use their search engine on a mobile phone.
In a trial seen as a struggle for the Internet’s soul, the U.S. will contend that Google broke the law in its bid to dominate Internet search.
To maintain Google’s search engine at the top of the rankings, the U.S. Justice Department is anticipated to provide information on how Google pays device manufacturers like Apple Inc. (AAPL.O), cellular providers like AT&T (T.N.), and browser manufacturers like Mozilla billions of dollars every year.
DuckDuckGo has also argued that switching from Google to DuckDuckGo as the default search engine on a device requires too many steps, contributing to its meager 2.3% market share.
A lengthy list of Google rivals, including DuckDuckGo, Microsoft (MSFT.O), and Yahoo, are among those keeping a close eye on the trial.
“By default, Google makes it very difficult to utilize DuckDuckGo. We’re happy that this case will finally go to trial, said Kamyl Bazbaz, a representative for DuckDuckGo, who claimed that Google has a “stranglehold on major distribution points for more than a decade.”
Google is ready to mount a robust defense and has denied any wrongdoing.
The legal battle has significant ramifications for Big Tech, which has been accused of acquiring or suffocating small competitors but has largely escaped charges of violating antitrust law because the services the corporations offer to users are either free, as in the cases of Alphabet’s Google (GOOGL.O) and Facebook (META.O), or inexpensive, as in the case of Amazon.com (AMZN.O).
Antitrust attorney Luke Hasskamp told Reuters, “it would be difficult to overstate the importance of this case, particularly for monopolies and companies with significant market share.”
“This will be a major case, particularly for the major tech companies of the world (Google, Apple, Twitter, and others), which have grown to have an outsized role in nearly all our lives,” he said.
Microsoft’s 1998 antitrust trial and AT&T’s 1974 antitrust trial are comparable precedents. The 1982 AT&T separation is credited with establishing the present mobile phone market, while the conflict with Microsoft is said to have made room for Google and other internet companies.
Last year, Congress made many unsuccessful attempts to control Big Tech. The most harsh initiatives to restrain the firms’ market dominance, such as laws to stop them from endorsing their goods, were not passed.
The adversaries of Big Tech now place their faith in Judge Amit Mehta, who former President Barack Obama selected to serve on the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia.
The Justice Department of former President Donald Trump filed the complaint that will be tried. President Joe Biden’s Justice Department persisted with the case. In January, it launched a second one against Google that was specifically focused on advertising technology in a rare display of bipartisan accord. View More
In this first trial, Judge Mehta will determine whether Google has violated antitrust law and, if so, what action should be taken. In addition to requesting “structural relief as needed,” the government has asked the court to force Google to cease any criminal action, which raises the potential that the internet behemoth may be ordered to be split up.
According to Daniel McCuaig, a partner at Cohen Milstein who was formerly with the U.S. Justice Department’s Antitrust Division, the government’s strongest arguments are those against Google’s revenue sharing agreements with Android makers, which mandate that Google be the only search on smartphones in exchange for a percentage of search advertising revenue.