Google, the world’s leading search engine, has accused the U.S. government of wanting to punish it for its success in the search market. The accusation was made in a post-trial brief submitted to a federal judge as part of Google’s ongoing legal battle with the U.S. Department of Justice. The DOJ has accused Google of unlawfully monopolizing the search market.
In the legal documents, Google argued that its position as the top search engine is a result of its hard work and innovation. The company claimed that if it were to lose the antitrust trial, the verdict would contradict U.S. antitrust law. Google stated that the government’s aim is to prop up its competitors, despite their track record of failing to achieve success in the past.
One of the claims made against Google is regarding its alleged unfair operation of Search Ads 360 (SA360). Google responded by stating that it is not obligated to engage with Microsoft on SA360 features and that its conduct aligns with standard practices. The company argued that punishing its conduct would harm competition by diminishing its incentives to offer and improve SA360.
SA360 is a platform for managing large search marketing campaigns across multiple search engines. It allows for more efficient handling of ads and keywords and offers automated bidding through bid strategies.
The DOJ accused Google of employing contracts with phone manufacturers and web browser operators to limit competition from other search engines like Microsoft’s Bing. The DOJ is expected to submit its own brief in response.
The final arguments for the trial are expected in May. If the U.S. government wins, Google may no longer be the default search engine on computers, laptops, and mobile devices. This could give rivals like Microsoft and Yahoo an opportunity to become the top search engine, potentially changing how we search online.
It remains to be seen how this legal battle unfolds and what impact it will have on the search market. For more information, readers can refer to Google’s post-trial brief. The outcome of this trial could have far-reaching implications for the future of search engines and online search behavior.
