INDIANAPOLIS -- A federal judge ruled this week that Google has violated U.S. antitrust laws through illegal monopolistic misconduct, handing a victory to Indiana and 51 other states and territories.
The legal dispute centered on allegations that Google engaged in misconduct over its search function and search advertising to allegedly assert a monopoly over competitive search engines.
“After having carefully considered and weighed the witness testimony and evidence, the court reaches the following conclusion: Google is a monopolist, and it has acted as one to maintain its monopoly,” U.S. District Judge Amit Mehta said. “It has violated Section 2 of the Sherman Act.”
The Hoosier state was one of 11 plaintiff states to join the federal government's monopolization case against Google. Indiana Attorney General Todd Rokita called Monday's opinion an important step towards "holding Google accountable."
“From day one, I have made clear that my office would not tolerate Big Tech riding roughshod over the rights and interests of everyday Hoosiers,” Rokita said. “Once again, we are making good on this commitment. We are holding Google accountable for its illegal and unacceptable practices. These companies are not permitted to preserve their market dominance through exclusionary tactics. Rather, they must compete in the free market to maintain the favor of their customers.”
According to the filing, the court determined that Google utilized exclusive distribution agreements to restrict competition for online search services and remove alternative search results from appearing for consumers to "charge supracompetitive prices for general search text ads relied upon by many businesses in Indiana and beyond."