Democratic and Republican attorney’s general from 38 states, led by Colorado and Nebraska, have filed an antitrust lawsuit against Google (GOOG). The suit alleges that Alphabet manipulates its search results to give its own products and services greater rankings over rivals—depriving web users from seeing the best options whenever they query the web for shopping, dining, and travel. Google accounts for about 90% all search inquiries, a position that the suit alleges has been created by anti-competitive tactics special deals that Google inks to ensure it is the default option on many web browsers, smartphones and newer connected devices. The suit also faults Google for the way it presents its search results, which often requires companies to purchase ads to rise to the top of users’ pages.
The suit follows quickly on the heels of one filed by Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton led nine fellow Republican officials over Google’s advertising practices. That suit claims Google illegally sought to suppress competition and reap massive profits from targeted advertisements that dominate search results.
Not even two months earlier, the Department of Justice filed an antitrust case aiming at Google’s special arrangements to ensure its search engine is set as the default option on a wide array of devices, including Apple’s iPhone, and services, such as the Mozilla Firefox web browser. Google denies the charges that its practices violate federal competition laws.
Google search revenue hit $98 billion in 2019.
Shares of Alphabet (GOOG) were down 15.78% today as of 3 p.m. New York time but finished off only 0.86%
I think both Amazon and Apple are on the list. My cat, who has very limited legal training, could put together an antitrust suit against either if those companies.
Amazon should be next!