In a landmark ruling, a federal court determined that Google violated antitrust laws by paying competitors to set its search engine as the default, a decision poised to significantly influence the operations of tech giants. Judge Amit P. Mehta of the US District Court for the District of Columbia ruled on Monday that Google breached the Sherman Act, a key antitrust statute, by maintaining its monopoly through such payments.

The Department of Justice (DOJ), alongside several US states, initiated the case against Google in 2020. The lawsuit highlighted Google’s practice of disbursing billions annually to companies like Apple and Samsung to ensure their devices and browsers defaulted to Google’s search engine. According to The New York Times, Google paid Apple a staggering $18 billion to secure this default position on iPhones.

Judge Mehta emphasized Google’s monopolistic behavior in his ruling, stating, “Google is a monopolist, and it has acted as one to maintain its monopoly.” With Google handling approximately 90 percent of global internet searches, its dominance extended to the sponsored advertising market, cementing its advantageous position further.

The suit also criticized Google for compelling phone manufacturers using the Android operating system to default to specific Google apps to gain access to the company’s Play Store. This tactic further solidified Google’s market control and restricted competition.

This case represents the largest DOJ-led antitrust action against the tech sector since the historic Microsoft case two decades ago. Google defended itself at trial, arguing that its success stemmed not from monopolistic practices but from its superior product offerings. The company contended it should be compared not only to other search engines but also to companies like Amazon, which rely heavily on web traffic.

In response to the ruling, Kent Walker, president of global affairs at Google’s parent company Alphabet, stated, “This decision recognizes that Google offers the best search engine, but concludes that we shouldn’t be allowed to make it easily available. We appreciate the Court’s finding that Google is ‘the industry’s highest quality search engine, which has earned Google the trust of hundreds of millions of daily users,’ that Google ‘has long been the best search engine, particularly on mobile devices,’ ‘has continued to innovate in search’ and that ‘Apple and Mozilla occasionally assess Google’s search quality relative to its rivals and find Google’s to be superior.’”

Despite this, Google plans to appeal the verdict. The current decision solely addresses Google’s liability, with a separate proceeding set to determine the necessary measures for the company to comply with the law.

This ruling is the latest setback for Google, following a federal jury in California finding its app marketplace to be an illegal monopoly. Moreover, Google is contending with another case from the DOJ and eight states, accusing it of dominating the online advertising market. The Biden administration has prioritized anti-monopoly legal action, with various agencies filing antitrust suits against other tech giants like Amazon for its e-commerce practices and Apple for its mobile dominance. This judicial decision against Google underscores a broader governmental push to curb the monopolistic behaviors of major tech companies and foster a more competitive market landscape.