Google Sued by DOJ in Antitrust Case Over Search Dominance

The Department of Justice filed a long-awaited anti-trust lawsuit against Google On Tuesday, arguing that the company had illegally maintained a monopoly on searches by cutting rivals’ off-key distribution channels.

The case is the culmination of a more than a year-long inquiry into the business practices of the companies. It’s the most significant anti-trust lawsuit since the Department of Justice sued Microsoft in the 1990s alongside a coalition of state law enforcement.

The crux of the complaint is that Google allegedly used its monopoly power to link distribution channels with online searches and related markets The Justice Department claims that Google has “foreclosed competition for internet search” through The Department of Justice claims that Google has “foreclosed competition for internet search” through exclusionary agreements that deny rivals the opportunity to reach the scale and to challenge their dominance.

DOJ claims that Google holds 88 percent of the U.S. general search market, with 94 percent of mobile searches occurring on its services. The Department claims that the behavior of Google has harmed consumers by lowering the quality of search services and reducing choice.

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