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A federal judge ruled on Monday that Google acted illegally to maintain a monopoly in online search, marking a significant victory for U.S. antitrust authorities. The landmark decision by Judge Amit P. Mehta of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia is the first antitrust ruling of the modern internet era against a technology giant.
The Justice Department and states had sued Google, accusing it of illegally cementing its dominance, in part, by paying other companies, like Apple and Samsung, billions of dollars a year to have Google automatically handle search queries on their smartphones and web browsers.
"Google is a monopolist, and it has acted as one to maintain its monopoly,” Judge Mehta said in his ruling.
The ruling is likely to influence other government antitrust lawsuits against Google, Apple, Amazon, and Meta, the owner of Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp. The last significant antitrust ruling against a tech company targeted Microsoft more than two decades ago.
Monday’s ruling did not include remedies for Google’s behavior. Judge Mehta will now decide that, potentially forcing the company to change the way it runs or to sell off part of its business. The ruling is the first major decision in a series of cases taking on alleged monopolies in Big Tech.