United States takes on Google in biggest tech monopoly trial of 21st century

Source: NPR

September 12, 2023 5:00 AM ET

The United States government is taking on one of the world's most powerful companies: Google.

A court battle kicks off on Tuesday in which the U.S. Justice Department will argue that Google abused its power as a monopoly to dominate the search engine business. It's the government's first major monopoly case to make it to trial in decades and the first in the age of the modern internet.

The Justice Department's case hinges on claims that Google illegally orchestrated its business dealings, so that it's the first search engine people see when they turn on their phones and web browsers. The government says Google's goal was to stomp out competition.

"This lawsuit strikes at the heart of Google's grip over the internet for millions of American consumers, advertisers, small businesses and entrepreneurs beholden to an unlawful monopolist," said former Attorney General William Barr when the case was first filed in October 2020. Now nearly three years later, with millions of pages of documents produced and depositions from more than 150 people, the case is going to trial.

Read more: https://www.npr.org/2023/09/12/1198558372/doj-google-monopoly-antitrust-trial-search-engine

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Heard this story being discussed on the radio news too, as I was creating the OP.