Google is facing federal antitrust allegations that threaten its long-standing supremacy in the realm of internet search. The antitrust trial will test the tech giant’s two-decade-long dominance of the internet search field.
The Justice Department filed the suit in 2020, accusing Google of operating a monopoly in online search and using that monopoly power to limit competition, stifle innovation, and violate users’ privacy.
The Justice Department has a history of dealing with big tech companies, like IBM and Microsoft in the past. Now, Google is in the spotlight because of artificial intelligence.If Google loses, it could face fines or rules, but it’s unlikely to be broken up because of its search business.
This could also affect companies like Mozilla and Apple, who make money from Google’s search engine. Besides legal issues, Google might get distracted and limit itself, similar to what happened to IBM and Microsoft during their antitrust cases, which could slow down its progress in the market.
Google has denied the charges, arguing that it faces strong competition from other search engines, such as Bing and DuckDuckGo.
The trial is expected to last four months.
The sources for this piece include an article in Axios.
