US judge interrogates Google and DOJ in the closing of the market power trial

Although there is debate about whether Google's early investment in mobile search is anticompetitive, the US government maintains that it 'doesn't imply Google gets to monopolize this industry forever.'

The government's antitrust action against Alphabet's Google saw the first day of closing arguments, during which US District Judge Amit Mehta grilled both the Justice Department and the company.

In a trial that began on September 12, the Justice Department relentlessly pressed its claims that the dominant search engine is a monopolist that unlawfully misused its position to benefit its own financial interests. Friday is the scheduled second day of closing arguments.

The government acknowledged this, but said that a "mistake by one rival doesn't mean Google gets to monopolize this market forever." Mehta, however, pressed Google's attorney, raising concerns about whether any rival might overtake Google on smartphones.

Attorney John Schmidtlein for Google denied claims that the corporation had participated in anticompetitive behavior.

The Trump administration filed the first of five cases in an effort to limit the market dominance of internet giants.

Biden's antitrust enforcers have since filed a second action against Google and cases against Amazon.com and Apple Inc. The second case, against Facebook parent Meta, was also initiated during the Trump administration.

Mehta will assess if Google broke any laws during this non-jury trial, and if so, she will also consider any appropriate punishment. This year, a decision is anticipated later.

Testimony was given by witnesses representing Verizon, Android manufacturer Samsung Electronics, and Google itself regarding the company's yearly payments ($26.3 billion in 2021) to maintain its dominant market share and make sure that their search is the default on smartphones and browsers.

Google CEO Sundar Pichai stated during his testimony that "we definitely see value" in having its search engine set as the default on computers, tablets, and phones in order to retain consumers.

Google, for its part, has countered that the government was incorrect to claim it broke the law in order to maintain its enormous market dominance, claiming that its search engine's popularity was driven by its high quality and that consumers could simply switch if they were unhappy.

News source:

https://www.rappler.com/technology/us-judge-questions-google-doj-market-power-trial-closing/