Google faces charge of paying $10bn annually for Search dominance: Trial begins in US
Google forged deals with phone makers to maintain its monopoly over rivals, the US government argues
Google rigged the market in its favour by forging deals with phone makers just to maintain the dominance of its search engine across devices, the US Department of Justice said Tuesday at the opening of the antitrust trial against the tech giant, media reports said.
Google argued that the payments compensate partners to make sure that the software gets timely security updates and other maintenance.
The tech giant also noted that its search engine was popular because of its quality and that users could switch to other Search engines with a few easy clicks.
“The trial is expected to last up to 10 weeks. The order is likely to be pronounced next year,” experts said.
Google Search has nearly 90 percent market dominance in the US. Search engine is a key part of its advertising business. In 2022, the firm generated over $280 billion in revenues, of which over 60 percent came from Search alone.
Google’s trial is considered the most high-profile monopoly trial in the US since Microsoft's trial in the 1990s of seeking to quash then-pioneering web browser Netscape with its Windows dominance.
In India, Google was slapped with a Rs 1,300 Cr penalty early this year by the Competition watchdog for its anti-competitive practices in the Android ecosystem.
