Lawyers for the Department of Justice (DOJ) have accused Google of using agreements with the likes of Apple, Samsung, and Mozilla Firefox to make Google search the default on their smartphones and web browsers.
The DOJ lawyers argued that Google viewed these agreements as “powerful strategic weapons” designed to make it impossible for competitors to break Google’s stranglehold over search.
“This case is about the future of the internet and whether Google’s search engine will ever face meaningful competition,” Kenneth Dintzer, the Justice Department’s lawyer, told the court.
Google denied the allegations, saying that the company’s products were simply superior to its rivals and that customers had plenty of opportunities to switch search engines if they wanted to.
The DOJ’s lawsuit was initially filed in 2020, and it alleges that Google used anticompetitive methods to prevent others from challenging the dominance of Google Search. In addition to the DOJ lawsuit, Google is also facing a legal challenges with the same DOJ over allegations that Google used its market dominance in the ad tech business to squash competition.
Google is also facing antitrust lawsuits from multiple state attorneys general. These lawsuits allege that Google has abused its market power in a variety of ways, including by favoring its own products and services over those of its rivals.
The sources for this piece include an article in BusinessInsider.