A U.S. federal judge has ruled that Google used illegal means to maintain its monopoly on search engines. Google was accused of leveraging its market dominance by paying substantial sums to browser and phone manufacturers to make its search engine the default, thereby suppressing competitors.

Judge Mehta, in a 276-page ruling, stated that Google's actions violated antitrust laws and accused the company of deleting internal information that could be useful to the case.

Google has announced plans to appeal the ruling. Kent Walker, the company's President of Global Affairs, emphasized in a statement that the company provides the best search engine and expressed dissatisfaction with the court's decision.

Jonathan Cantor, head of the DOJ's antitrust division, stated that the ruling will pave the way for future innovation and safeguard the information access rights of all Americans.

Judge Mehta will need several months of court hearings to consider what remedies to impose on Google to restore market competition.

Experts believe that the court may issue an injunction against Google's search engine deals or require users to actively choose their search engine in browsers rather than using the default option. Additionally, the court might limit Google's payments to device manufacturers for obtaining default status.

Google faces antitrust challenges not only in the U.S. but also from the EU, which has recently reopened an investigation into its app store practices. Moreover, the DOJ has filed a lawsuit against Google over its monopoly in the digital advertising market, with the case expected to go to trial in September.

This ruling against Google could influence antitrust lawsuits involving other major tech companies. The U.S. government is also suing Apple, Amazon, and Meta on the grounds of "suppressing market competition."

Antitrust authorities worldwide are actively working to curb the monopolistic behavior of tech giants, protect consumer rights, and promote market innovation.