Google’s monopoly
In the suit, the deputy attorney general of DoJ alleged that Google had amassed massive economic power through business practices which were exclusionary and harmful to competitors. The suit was filed against Google “for unlawfully maintaining a monopoly in general search services and search advertising”. com/IMG/pdf/proving_refusal_ to_deal_liability_1_.pdf).Įarlier, DoJ, along with 11 states, sued Google in October 2020, alleging that the company had abused its dominant position in a way that had harmed its competitors as well as customers. Although the general rule is that an alleged monopolist, like any other company, has no duty to deal with anyone, there are exceptions, the scope of which are frequently debated and litigated. A common question is whether a company with market power engages in “exclusionary conduct” by choosing not to deal with a competitor.
In general, antitrust laws are violated if a refusal to deal unnecessarily excludes competitors, that is, if the conduct does not benefit consumers by making a better product or service available and instead, has the effect of impairing competition. “The Court has serious concerns that some of Plaintiffs’ allegations rely on a ‘duty to deal’ theory of antitrust,” she observed. Existing anti-trust law does not require monopolists to help competitors survive. The district judge further observed that the complainants need to better explain why Google’s refusal to support rival systems that the advertisers rely upon was anti-competitive. tech/tech- bytes/us-judge-dismisses- advertisers-antitrust-claims- against-google/articleshow/ 82625994.cms). The ruling by District Judge Beth Labson Freeman in San Jose, California, marks one of the first major decisions in the spate of antitrust cases filed against Google. In one such hearing on May 13, 2021, a US judge dismissed antitrust claims against Google brought by its rivals and the US Department of Justice (DoJ) but offered them a chance to try again after addressing what she called “serious concerns”. com/technology/7/ google-search-antitrust- lawsuit/). In short, it prevents web users from seeing the best options when they search for options in shopping, dining, travel, etc. Nearly 40 states in the US filed a wide-ranging antitrust lawsuit against Google in the last few years, alleging that the tech giant manipulates its search results to give its own products and services greater rankings over rivals. Is Google’s monopoly position actually hurting its users? Manipulating
The big question is whether Google has become a natural monopoly in the age of information technology or has manipulated its dominant position. In fact, searching for something on the net has become synonymous with googling. There is no doubt that Google is the internet’s most-used website. As Google has a worldwide operation and is a dominant player in the web, these issues have global repercussions.įrom an Indian perspective also, this matter is important as similar issues were raised here too. THE recent anti-trust lawsuit against Google has thrown up some interesting issues. Google’s ability to push its own products has quietly reshaped the contours of the economy, leading to it making huge profits and consolidating its market share, writes KINGSHUK SARKAR. The first round of judgement dismissed such allegations, but questions remain whether the tech giant’s dominant position is making it violate antitrust law and subsequently hurting users’ interest. In recent times, Google has faced an antitrust lawsuit in the US and had similar issues in India.