UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE SUE GOOGLE FOR MONOPOLY

A HISTORICAL DEMAND: GOOGLE WILL HAVE TO RESPOND TO THE US JUSTICE FOR ITS MONOPOLIC PRACTICES; THE COMPANY FACES THE POSSIBILITY OF BEING DIVIDED

After a year of investigation, the US Department of Justice has filed a lawsuit against Alphabet, Google`s parent company. Google is accused of monopolistic practices, blocking its competitors and exploiting its position as a "port of entry" to the Internet.

In particular, cases are being investigated in which Google made deals with companies such as Apple of Samsung so that their products appeared in the first places of the results. Google pays Apple about $ 10 billion annually to make its search engine the default search engine for its products. Presumably, a troublesome alliance has been forged between the two giants. He is also accused of favoring his own products and companies in the same results.

The lawsuit could be a historic event. If it proceeds and bears fruit, Alphabet could be forced to split. In addition, measures such as those that were implemented in the telecommunications sector (which, for example, meant the breakup of AT&T) would possibly be taken.

Google has almost absolute dominance of the search market. In the United States, about 90% of all desktop searches and nearly 95% of mobile phone searches are on Google. In other countries the numbers do not vary much.

On the other hand, in certain areas of the US government (and other power groups) there is a concern that Google and other similar companies such as Facebook, Apple and Amazon (which are also being investigated) have become too powerful, as they are capable of alter public policies through their lobbying groups, legal departments, and donations. Likewise, they usually implement strategic purchases from all their competitors. At the same time, as has been shown in recent years, the Internet giants also have a certain capacity to influence social behavior or to have the means for others to do so, as happened in the 2016 US presidential elections. for example, or during the votes for the exit of the United Kingdom from the European Union, Brexit, in that same year.

In the United States, the golden law of the "free market" is that good practices are those that favor innovation. It is believed, as an unwritten rule, that competition is indispensable to create new things, improve existing ones, and through this, keep both production and consumption moving (in addition to other economic mechanisms). In that regard, Google faces some important accusations. Research by the Washington Post, for example, shows that Google results in recent years are less efficient for certain types of searches. In the absence of competitors, Google seems to have no reason to improve its product.

Google doesn`t charge for its services, like previous monopolies, but it can control search results, which gives it enormous power not only because it can make small businesses unable to compete with those with purchasing power, but it can also manipulate the perception of different products, events or people.

Google has defended itself in first statements stating that its dominance of the market is completely due to the predilection of users, since they have full access to other search engines. This reflects the quality of your product, which is constantly being optimized.

The case could last several years and may not be fully successful. However, some analysts believe that we are at the beginning of a confrontation between Washington and Silicon Valley and could see similar lawsuits against Amazon, Facebook, Apple and possibly other tech giants. Dismantling the excessive power and influence these companies have could be vital to the well-being of not just America`s "innovation" and economy, but perhaps even the health of the entire world.

Publication Date: 2020-10-23

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