Judge Rules Google Monopolized Search & Advertising

"Google is a monopolist, and it has acted as one to maintain its monopoly."

-- U.S. District Judge Amit P. Mehta

On Aug. 5, Judge Mehta ruled Google illegally maintained a monopoly in online search and advertising, agreeing with the DOJ. Mehta wrote that Google paid billions to Apple and Samsung to be the primary search engine on their devices, freezing out Duck Duck Go, Bing, Yahoo!, and Neeva.

The ruling could shake up the search engine landscape, as Google's dominance faces judicial scrutiny. Google spent $26.3 billion in 2021 to be the default search engine on phones and browsers.

Remedies will be decided post-appeal, with experts suggesting the court may order Google to scrap exclusive deals with tech giants.

In a 286-page decision, Mehta refuted claims Google withheld ad tech from Microsoft but wrote:

"Google's merger and acquisition strategy reflected an intent to target and neutralize threats to its monopoly."

Google's Kent Walker called the ruling an attack on offering the "best" search engine. Microsoft's Satya Nadella countered: "There is really the Google web."

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USA TODAY contributed reporting.