US Department of Justice States Google is a Search Monopoly and Files a Lawsuit

Tuesday marked the filling of a landmark lawsuit against Google by the Department of Justice, who is accusing the tech company of illegally holding monopolies is both the online search and advertising markets.  This lawsuit comes after over a yearlong investigation into anticompetitive practices being performed by the company.  One large aspect of this lawsuit is deeming Google the "gatekeeper" of the internet as the company dominates contracts with major phone, computer, and software companies as the default search engine. This is being coupled with an alleged case of Google strong-arming android phone manufacturers to preload Google apps as part of the phones package.

Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Indiana, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, South Carolina and Texas have all filed as plaintiffs of the lawsuit and this move continues the US Government's move to place big tech under stricter investigations and regulations as of late.  "Today's lawsuit by the Department of Justice is deeply flawed," Kent Walker, Google's senior vice president of global affairs, said in a blog post. "People use Google because they choose to, not because they're forced to, or because they can't find alternatives."

Google's antitrust problems are not just limited to the US, as the EU has recently fined the company for $1.7 due to "abusive online ad practices" and stated they would be looking into the company's search dominance at a later date.  The last large tech monopoly battle was Microsoft in the 1990s who ended up settling with the government after the department of justice investigated them for their PC company monopoly.