“Google is a monopolist and has acted as such to maintain its monopoly,” writes Judge Amit Mehta in an opinion.
The company has spent billions on issuing exclusive contracts with companies. Something that resulted in other search engines being blocked, according to the lawsuit from the US government.
That’s the reasoning of the court
According to the judge, who broadly agrees, this has enabled Google to secure its position as the dominant search engine.
He states that Google, through its agreements with important tech actors such as Apple, has conducted anti-competitive activities.
Pending appeal
According to the judge, Google’s high costs for advertising in its search business are also considered to reflect the company’s monopoly.
Google is expected to appeal the decision and the case is believed to land in the US Supreme Court.
So the consequences can be
Because of that, it could take several years before Google is forced to any consequences, writes CNN. One such consequence could be how accessible the search engine is to users, another is that Google has to refer to other search engines.
According to CNN it is also likely that Google will be forced to pay fines.