Google Antitrust Trial Week 1: Feds Paint Picture Of Search Bully

Google faces the first week of a landmark antitrust lawsuit over its search deals

1. The Justice Department says Google used anticompetitive deals to maintain its search monopoly.
2. Google says it only makes deals that benefit customers like Microsoft.
3. Experts testified that Google's default settings create a "strong bias" toward its search engine.

In the first week of the US Justice Department's antitrust case against Google, the search giant faced allegations that it made armed partners in deals that consolidated its dominance.

The federal government says that around 2010, Google began using anti-competitive tactics to maintain its monopoly on search engines.

The case highlighted Google's reliance on default settings, internal communication strategies, and consumer influence.

This compendium examines the arguments, strategies, and key players shaping the issue.

The issue at hand

The government says Google has been using competitive tactics since about 2010 to maintain control of the search engine market.

According to the Department of Justice, Google used the “power of defaults” to make the deals, ensuring the prominence of its search engine in web browsers and operating systems.

The strategy included entering into agreements with Apple and Mozilla to make Google the default search engine in Safari and Firefox, and requiring Android manufacturers to include the Google search tool on their phones.

By leveraging vast search data to improve its algorithms, Google created a feedback loop that the Justice Department claims made it nearly unbeatable.

Impact on users of virtual services

The final question the case seeks to answer is how Google's deals with other tech companies affect consumers.

The Justice Department alleges that Google's alleged unfair competition strategies allowed it to avoid improving search in ways that could benefit consumers, such as raising privacy standards.

Google claims it has made deals that benefit consumers, comparing the software to replacing search engines in the dial-up era.

While the government criticizes Google's reliance on default settings, Google says it is a legitimate competition that other companies routinely engage in.

The Justice Department hopes to convince Judge Amit Mehta that Google's tactics have stifled competition in a way that harms consumers.

What comes next?

The trial continues this week, and Google's defense has yet to come.

The key question for the judge is whether consumer harm applies to free products such as search engines.

The Justice Department is scheduled to present its case for the rest of September and early October.

We expect to hear from high-level witnesses, including Google CEO Sundar Pichai and other technology executives.

Google's defense likely won't be presented until late October.