Today In the United States, a trial begins against Google over the dominant position of its search engine, a process in which the country’s federal regulators will try to dismantle their empire by trying to prove that those in Mountain View manipulated the market in their favor by making their search engine the default for many devices and features. Not only that, because according to CNBC, too An attempt will be made to prove that the company destroyed the evidence once it became clear that there was a good chance that she would be tried for the charges against her.

Google apparently did not take the necessary steps to store chat messages between employees that should have been in legal custody. Among other things, the company did not prevent their self-destruction. As usual, the company denies the allegations of destruction of evidence made by the Department of Justice.

It will be a long trial, lasting approximately 10 weeks, and when he is heard for a verdict, it is not expected to arrive until the first weeks of next year 2024. If then District Judge Amit Mehta decides that Google has broken the law, the next trial will be , in which it will decide on the steps to be taken to control Google.

During the hearing, top executives from Google and its parent company Alphabet are called to testify. Among them is likely to be its CEO Sundar Pichai. Managers from other large technology companies will also testify, among whom, according to the documents the court is working with, could be Apple executive Andy Cue.

Lawsuit for monopolistic search engine practices

It’s been three years since the United States Department of Justice sued Google for antitrust, alleging that the company used its dominant position in Internet search to gain an unfair advantage over its competitors. Government lawyers then argued that Google was protecting its franchise through some kind of kickback scheme by paying billions of dollars each year for the default search engine on the iPhone and in browsers such as Apple’s Safari and Mozilla’s Firefox.

Regulators also argued that Google had rigged the market in its favor by requiring its search engine to be integrated into its Android software for smartphones if device makers wanted full access to the Android app store.

In addition, the company will also face another accusation: that Google did not even make its search advertising engine, Search Ads 360, sufficiently interoperable with Microsoft Bing. Instead, Google «prioritizes advertising on its own platform and directs advertiser spend to itself, artificially denying advertisers the opportunity to evaluate options that would provide advertisers with better options«.

In its defense, Google argued that it faced a wide range of competition despite having more than 90% of the Internet search market. As for the company, its competitors range from search engines like Bing to websites like Yelp and Amazon, sites where Internet surfers can ask about something they need to buy or restaurants they want to go to. For its managers, it is the constant improvement of its search engine that explains why people still open its search engine almost instinctively.

Possible consequences for Google if it loses the trial

This trial is the largest monopoly trial in the last 25 years. The previous one, in 1998, was also against a technology company: Microsoft. The company was accused of forcing PC makers who relied on its dominant Windows operating system to install Internet Explorer just as the global Internet was about to expand.

These practices practically prevented competition from a browser that was quite popular until recently: Netscape. In the face of the rise of the Internet, from which Google has precisely benefited, it has lost its mind and, according to many, its focus.

Several members of the Justice Department team working on the Google case, including Justice Department counsel Kenneth Dintzer, also worked on the Microsoft investigation.

It is not known what implications this trial may have for Google, but it seems certain that it will If you lose it, action will be taken. significantly reduce their strength. He can be one of them will force you to stop paying for Apple and other companies so Google is the default search engine on smartphones and computers. In effect, the government claims that these agreements blocked several important distribution channels for search, creating very strong barriers to entry for rival search engines in the face of competition. Therefore, in addition to a large fine, if the court does not go well for Google, it may face various measures that will limit its reach.