On September 12, local time, the U.S. Department of Justice made an opening statement on Google's anti-monopoly case, accusing Google of illegally monopolizing the Internet search market.。

courtroom confrontation

One of the key points of the U.S. Department of Justice and Google's battle in court is Google's use of scale to suppress its opponents.。

Google's current dominance in search and search advertising is unquestionable。According to Statista, 95% of mobile device queries in the U.S. use Google。The search engines that followed Google were Microsoft's Bing and Yahoo Search, which each had a market share of 6.4% and 2.3%。

"For the past 12 years, Google has abused its monopoly in search," Justice Department attorney Kenneth Dintzer said in an opening statement.。

Dintzer said there is evidence that Google deliberately created and modified contracts to keep Google as the default search engine for mobile devices such as desktops and iPhones.。

But Google's defense attorney, John Schmidtlein, argued that consumers choose Google to search the Internet because of its high-quality search results, and that users are free to download alternative search options on Apple and Android devices.。The lawyer said: "The default settings do not prevent consumers from finding the apps they like.。"

And according to prosecutors, Google restricted Apple from innovating or developing as a search competitor by entering into revenue-sharing agreements for search ads generated by Apple's Safari browser.。According to the contract, Apple must use Google Search by default, which means it cannot provide default locations to other companies.。

This approach allows Google to obtain so much data that competitors cannot compete fairly。He also claimed that Google knew that such conduct crossed antitrust boundaries, but destroyed documents to cover up its exclusion from competition.。

Dintzer said: "When you hinder your competitors, your product will always be good enough."。He added: "Google's monopoly started with the default setting.。"

In the trial, prosecutors subpoenaed Hal Varian, Google's chief economist, who was part of a team evaluating Microsoft's plans to enter the search market.。Asked why he wrote an internal economic analysis of default search rankings in 2003, Varian said: "We wanted to protect ourselves from Microsoft's adoption of this search feature.。At the time, Microsoft was developing its search engine, Bing.。

The court also asked if Varian had proposed some means of circumventing antitrust-related laws at the time.。In an internal slide about the default search layout, Varian warned Google that it should avoid using the language used by the U.S. Department of Justice in its 1998 antitrust case against Microsoft.。Varian says he can't remember if he had legal training on circumventing antitrust investigations。

Google's monopoly has sparked discontent from other friends in the market.。Kamy lBazbaz, vice president of public affairs at DuckDuckGo, a US search engine with a market share of around 1 per cent, said: "For more than a decade, Google has been using its monopoly power to prevent meaningful competition in the search market by controlling major distribution points.。"

Google pays $10 billion a year to device makers such as Apple, wireless companies such as AT & T and browser makers such as Mozilla to maintain market share for its search engine, according to the Justice Department's allegations.。

But Google's lawyers say the payments are compensation for partners making sure the software gets security updates and other maintenance work in a timely manner.。According to Schmidtlein, users now have more search options and more ways to access information online than ever before。He also claimed that Google won the Best Search Engine contest held by Apple and Mozilla.。

The government has charged that Google's monopoly also extends to advertising, accusing it of raising prices for advertisers by "manipulating" auctions of search ads.。Federal prosecutors also claim that Google hid evidence and destroyed documents for years.。

The Justice Department argues that Google's antitrust practices not only suppress adversaries, but also affect innovation。Dintzer said of Google's efforts to improve the search market: "Google is walking when it's time to run.。"

In the case, Google and prosecutors disagree on the scope of the search market。According to Google, the general search market should include not only Yahoo, Bing and DuckDuckGo, but also companies like Amazon, Spotify and Expedia that don't offer general search.。

Biggest antitrust case in 25 years

The case is the most significant U.S. monopoly case since 1998.。Previous major U.S. antitrust cases include the 1998 Microsoft case and the 1974 AT & T case.。The 1982 AT & T spin-off is credited with paving the way for the modern mobile phone industry, while the Microsoft case is credited with opening up space for other Internet companies。

For Google, the search business is the company's biggest source of revenue。Together, its search and search ads generated more than $160 billion in revenue in 2022, accounting for more than half of its total revenue ($280 billion).。For Google, only winning the case can protect its "money bag," for which Google will fight with all its might.。

For regulators, a victory in this antitrust case would be a shock to the Internet industry and a huge boost to other search engines.。If the regulator loses the case, it could also set off a new legal campaign to update this 19th century antitrust law。Dintzer said: "This case is about the future of the Internet and whether Google's search engine will face meaningful competition.。"

Sean Sullivan, a professor at the University of Iowa Law School, said that in order to win the case at trial, it was not enough for the Justice Department to prove that Google was very large or that its competitors had been trying to fight it.。"The onus is on the government to prove that Google maintained its monopoly through anti-competitive practices."。"

Google executives, including Google CEO Sundar Pichai, will give evidence in a two-month trial.。Top executives at Apple and Microsoft, including the latter's CEO Satya Nadella, are also likely to testify.。

The trial is expected to last up to 10 weeks.。Judge will decide whether Google violated antitrust laws in managing search and search ads。If Google is found to be breaking the law, a judge will decide how best to fix the problem。He may decide to simply order Google to stop its illegal practices, or he may order Google to sell its assets.。