Antitrust proceedings against Google: Dintzer goes into full swing immediately

Washington, September 12th 2023

In the antitrust case led by the U.S. Justice Department on Tuesday, Google was accused of spending more than $10 billion annually to maintain its status as the default search engine. This affects competition. The trial, scheduled to last about 10 months, began in a packed Washington courtroom with opening statements from the Justice Department and representatives of the search giant.

Justice Department lawyer Kenneth Dintzer argued that Google became a monopoly before 2010 and used its power to make its search engine the default choice on all platforms. The next accusation: Google secretly funnels billions of dollars every year to device manufacturers, mobile phone providers and browser manufacturers in order to secure a 90% market share for its search engine. Dintzer also accused Google of hiding and destroying documents to protect communications because the company was aware that it was violating antitrust laws.

Google’s defense focuses on its efficiency and free service. The company’s lawyers argued that consumers can uninstall the Google app or use alternatives like Bing, Yahoo or Microsoft’s DuckDuckGo in their browsers to get a different search experience.

U.S. District Judge Amit Mehta, who is presiding over the trial, is expected to issue a ruling early next year.