Here Is How The Google Antitrust Case Ruling Could Impact You

Google is once again embroiled in a controversy and this time, it involves the US Department of Justice (DoJ).

In a recent ruling by a federal judge, Google has been found guilty of monopolising the search and advertising business across the US and other regions. The ruling found that the software giant was violating the US Government’s Section 2 of the Sherman Act, citing Google as the monopolist that tried everything in its might to maintain its position in the market.

The Google antitrust case, which has been doing rounds of the court since 2023, has evaluated all the deals that the firm has in place with several key technology players like Apple, Mozilla, Samsung and more – discouraging the competition to try coming up with alternatives and solutions.

With the verdict being passed, what matters now is how this ruling will affect the common man. Will we witness the end of Google and its domination? Or, will the US government figure out a way to govern Google’s services and how it reaches the masses?

Let’s explore what the US Department of Justice’s ruling says and how the outcome of the Google antitrust case is likely to change the way we deal with age-old search engines in our daily lives.

What the Google antitrust trial accusing the search giant of having a monopoly is all about

The US Government filed an antitrust case against Google in 2020, accusing the software giant of monopolising the market and stifling competition. Federal judge Amit Mehta, who was overseeing the case, arrived at his verdict that “Google is a monopolist and it has acted as one to maintain its monopoly.”

Mehta’s ruling stated that Google exercises a monopoly over general search services and general search text advertising.

“Time and again, Google’s partners have concluded that it is financially infeasible to switch default GSEs or seek greater flexibility in search offerings because it would mean sacrificing the hundreds of millions, if not billions, of dollars that Google pays them as revenue share. These are Fortune 500 companies, and they have nowhere else to turn other than Google,” he wrote.

It was found that Google’s distribution agreements are exclusive and have anticompetitive effects on its rivals. The search giant also failed to offer valid precompetitive justifications for those agreements. The court also found Google charging supercompetitive prices for general search text ads, which allows it to earn monopoly profits.

What will happen to Google’s Search and Advertising business now?

The US Department of Justice has only found out the liabilities and is yet to conduct a discussion on the remedies. It is speculated that the government could ask Google to stop some of its business practices, split the search business division or enforce additional governance on the firm’s business practices until its monopoly ceases to exist.

Google, however, has plans to appeal the ruling. “This decision recognizes that Google offers the best search engine, but concludes that we shouldn’t be allowed to make it easily available. As this process continues, we will remain focused on making products that people find helpful and easy to use,” says Kent Walker, Google’s President of Global Affairs.

What impact could this ruling have on you?

Although the ruling concerns Google’s search and advertising business, the impact on consumers could be substantial, too.

If Google’s monopoly is challenged, consumers are likely to benefit from the luxury of choosing their search engines. Web browsers on your phone will no longer direct you to Google Search by default unless Google has a deal with the developer. The same goes for all your web searches on iPhones, iPads and Macs – all of which rely on Google for returning results.

With a more uniform market share in advertising, consumers could choose to opt for those search engines that prioritise user privacy over profits and accessibility. Up-and-coming products like OpenAI’s SearchGPT may change the web search scenario in the future.

(Hero and Featured Image Credits: Courtesy Brett Jordan via Unsplash)