Google took illegal steps to protect communications about the payments, the US says. (Representative)
Washington, United States:
The Justice Department on Thursday advanced its argument that Google tried to strike deals with mobile carriers to gain powerful default positions in smartphones and thus dominate search results in an antitrust lawsuit that could change the future of the Internet.
The government concluded Thursday morning its questioning of Antonio Rangel, who teaches behavioral biology at the California Institute of Technology. Rangel discussed how consumers are likely to stick with browsers on computers and mobile phones that came pre-installed as the default application.
The government says its Alphabet unit has been paying $10 billion annually to wireless companies like AT&T, device makers like Apple and browser makers like Mozilla to be the default search engine on devices to fend off rivals and bring its search engine market share to nearly 90% hold.
John Schmidtlein, a lawyer for Google, pointed out during cross-examination of Rangel that a significant number of user searches went to Google even when another search engine was the default.
A key part of Google’s defense is that the government is wrong to say that Google broke the law to maintain its enormous market share, because its search engine is wildly popular for its quality, and that all payments to wireless companies or others were fair compensation. for partners.
The battle has major implications for Big Tech, which has been accused of buying or strangling small rivals but has defended itself by insisting that its services are free, as in the case of Google, or cheap, as in the case of Amazon .com.
The government called witnesses on Tuesday and Wednesday to show that Google was already trying to attract a large number of searches by gaining default status on mobile devices in the mid-2000s.
The government claims that Google’s influence in search has helped Google build monopolies in some aspects of online search advertising. Search is free, so Google makes money from advertising.
The government has also alleged that Google took illegal steps to protect communications about the payments.
If Google is found to have broken the law, U.S. District Judge Amit Mehta, who decides the case, will decide how to resolve the case. He can order Google to stop practices he has found illegal or sell assets.
Previous major antitrust lawsuits include Microsoft, filed in 1998, and AT&T, filed in 1974. The breakup of AT&T in 1982 is said to have paved the way for the modern mobile phone industry, while the battle with Microsoft created space for Google and others. on the Web.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
