A federal U.S. judge ruled on Monday that Google has illegally maintained a monopoly in two market areas: search and text advertising.
This landmark case, initiated by the government in 2020, alleged that Google sustained its dominance in the general search market by erecting strong barriers to entry and creating a feedback loop that reinforced its control. The court determined that Google violated Section 2 of the Sherman Act, which prohibits monopolies.
This ruling represents the first anti-monopoly decision against a tech company in decades.
"Google is a monopolist, and it has acted as one to maintain its monopoly," wrote Judge Amit Mehta of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia in the decision.
The court focused on Google’s exclusive search agreements on Android and Apple’s iPhone and iPad devices, noting that these arrangements contributed to Google's anticompetitive behavior and dominance in the search markets.
The court also declined to sanction Google for not preserving employee chat messages.
In 2020, the Department of Justice and a bipartisan group of attorneys general from 38 states and territories, led by Colorado and Nebraska, filed similar but separate antitrust suits against Google. These suits were consolidated for pretrial procedures, including evidence discovery.
Alphabet shares dropped more than 4% on Monday, amid a broader global decline in stocks.
The Justice Department did not immediately provide a comment. Google also did not respond to requests for comment.
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