{"id":1463,"date":"2020-10-20T19:23:31","date_gmt":"2020-10-20T19:23:31","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/localtalkweekly.com\/?p=1463"},"modified":"2020-10-20T19:23:43","modified_gmt":"2020-10-20T19:23:43","slug":"justice-department-sues-google","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/localtalkweekly.com\/index.php\/2020\/10\/20\/justice-department-sues-google\/","title":{"rendered":"JUSTICE DEPARTMENT SUES GOOGLE"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

WASHINGTON<\/strong> – On Oct. 20, the Department of Justice – along with eleven state Attorneys General – filed a civil antitrust lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia to stop Google from unlawfully maintaining monopolies through anticompetitive and exclusionary practices in the search and search advertising markets and to remedy the competitive harms. The participating state Attorneys General offices represent Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Indiana, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, South Carolina, and Texas.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cToday, millions of Americans rely on the Internet and online platforms for their daily lives.  Competition in this industry is vitally important, which is why today\u2019s challenge against Google – the gatekeeper of the Internet – for violating antitrust laws is a monumental case both for the Department of Justice and for the American people,\u201d said Attorney General William Barr. \u201cSince my confirmation, I have prioritized the Department\u2019s review of online market-leading platforms to ensure that our technology industries remain competitive. This lawsuit strikes at the heart of Google\u2019s grip over the internet for millions of American consumers, advertisers, small businesses and entrepreneurs beholden to an unlawful monopolist.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As one of the wealthiest companies on the planet with a market value of $1 trillion, Google is the monopoly gatekeeper to the internet for billions of users and countless advertisers worldwide. For years, Google has accounted for almost 90 percent of all search queries in the United States and has used anticompetitive tactics to maintain and extend its monopolies in search and search advertising. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

As alleged in the Complaint, Google has entered into a series of exclusionary agreements that collectively lock up the primary avenues through which users access search engines, and thus the internet, by requiring that Google be set as the preset default general search engine on billions of mobile devices and computers worldwide and, in many cases, prohibiting preinstallation of a competitor.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In particular, the Complaint alleges that Google has unlawfully maintained monopolies in search and search advertising by:<\/p>\n\n\n\n