Google, the omnipresent internet search engine giant, is using "anti-competitive business practices" to acquire and maintain its dominance in the market of online advertising, according to a new antitrust lawsuit filed by the Department of Justice against the company.
Google denied the charges, explaining in a statement to Fox News that the accusations are "deeply flawed."
"People use Google because they choose to -- not because they're forced to or because they can't find alternatives," the company said.
But the DOJ is claiming "For years, Google has entered into exclusionary agreements, including tying arrangements, and engaged in anticompetitive conduct to lock up distribution channels and block rivals. American consumers are forced to accept Google’s policies, privacy practices, and use of personal data; and new companies with innovative business models cannot emerge from Google’s long shadow."
It continued, "For the sake of American consumers, advertisers, and all companies now reliant on the internet economy, the time has come to stop Google’s anticompetitive conduct and restore competition."
The Washington Examiner called the case "historic and long-anticipated," and said the focus of the complaint is on how Google has "used its search dominance in the online advertising arena to defeat its competitors."
The case was brought in U.S. District Court in Washington, and is supported by the attorneys general from Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Indiana, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, South Carolina, and Texas.
It's stated goal is "to restrain Google LLC from unlawfully maintaining monopolies in the markets for general search services, search advertising, and general search text advertising in the United States through anticompetitive and exclusionary practices, and to remedy the effects of this conduct."
The company targeted in the 64-page complaint currently has a market value of some $1 billion and reports annual revenue of more than $160 billion.
Cited in the action is the Sherman Antitrust Act.
The Examiner reported, "The Justice Department said in a press call that Google had maintained its monopoly in large part by paying mobile phone manufacturers and carriers billions of dollars to make Google the default search engine on hundreds of millions of cellphone devices."
It continued, "Furthermore, phones that use Google's Android software platform cannot change their search engine to an alternative if they want to benefit from a revenue-sharing agreement with the tech behemoth. Google controls over 80% of general search engine queries in the U.S., in part because almost all users use the default search platform available on their devices, the Justice Department said."
Fox News revealed key lawmakers believe it's about time.
"Today’s lawsuit is the most important antitrust case in a generation," explained Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo. "Google and its fellow Big Tech monopolists exercise unprecedented power over the lives of ordinary Americans, controlling everything from the news we read to the security of our most personal information. And Google in particular has gathered and maintained that power through illegal means."
Rekp. David Cicilline, D-R.I., and chief of the House Antitrust Subcommittee, said, "The subcommittee’s investigation uncovered extensive evidence showing that Google maintained and extended its monopoly to harm competition. It is critical that the Justice Department’s lawsuit focuses on Google’s monopolization of search and search advertising, while also targeting the anti-competitive business practices Google is using to leverage this monopoly into other areas, such as maps, browsers, video, and voice assistants."
Fox Business suggested the case has "the potential to shake up Silicon Valley and beyond."
Google is one division of the Alphabet Inc. corporation.
The DOJ had been investigating the company's suspect activities for more than a year.
European Union regulators already had taken aim at the company's activities and through three antitrust complaints, fined it about $9 billion.
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