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The US Federal Court has ruled that Google is a monopolist in the search engine market. This was reported by The Wall Street Journal, citing a court ruling. The court found that Google abused its dominant position to drive out competitors.
The judge said: “Google is a monopolist and it acts accordingly to maintain its monopoly”. The company spent “billions of dollars” on deals with smartphone makers to remain the default search engine.
Google paid 26 billion USD in 2021 to become the default search engine on smartphones and browsers. The next step is for the court to determine the measures to be taken against Google. The US Department of Justice, which acted as the plaintiff, has not yet announced what sanctions it will seek. Google plans to appeal the court's decision. In parallel with this case, in January 2023, the US Department of Justice filed another lawsuit against Google, accusing the company of dominating the online advertising market.
The trial is scheduled to begin in September 2024. This court decision could have serious consequences for Google's business model and could lead to significant changes in the search engine and online advertising market.