United States: The US Department of Justice has argued that Google uses its wealth and influence to suppress competition and maintain its dominance as the most popular search engine.
It comes after the US Department of Justice and a coalition of state attorneys general accused Google of unlawfully abusing its dominance in the search engine market to maintain monopoly power.
Google countered that internet users rely on the search engine because of its quality.
“Google pays more than $10 billion per year for these privileged positions,’’ said Mr. Kenneth Dintzer, the Justice Department’s lead litigator.
“Google’s contracts ensure that rivals cannot match the search quality ad monetisation, especially on phones. Through this feedback loop, this wheel has been turning for more than 12 years. It always turns to Google’s advantage,” the lawyer added.
The current case was started during the administration of former President Mr. Donald Trump nearly three years ago. Critics have expressed concerns about the conglomerates controlling much of the market. Google alone, for example, commands about 90 percent of the search engine market, as per the statement.
The hearing will run for 10 weeks. Top officials from tech companies such as Google and Apple are expected to attend the hearing.
The main allegation Google is facing is that it has used its considerable stature to bend other companies to its will.
Google’s parent company, Alphabet, has 182,000 employees and is worth about $1.7 trillion.
Mr. Dintzer said that Alphabet entered into a revenue-sharing agreement with Apple, stipulating that Google would be the default search engine on every Apple device.
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