The US Justice Department on Thursday informed a federal judge that Google’s parent company Alphabet Inc. pays billions of dollars to companies like Samsung and Apple and other telecom companies so that it maintains its top position as a search engine illegally.
However, Kenneth Dintzer, an attorney in the Department of Justice, did not disclose how much Google shell out to remain as a default search engine on all US mobile devices and most browsers, and Dintzer described the amount as massive.
During a hearing in Washington, Judge Amit Mehta was told by Dintzer that Google invested billions buying exclusivity, knowing very well that defaults matter and people will not change them. The hearing was the first in the face-off in a case that drew among the spectators, antitrust officials, and Nebraska’s Attorney General.
The contracts of Google are the basis for the Department of Justice antitrust lawsuit as there are allegations that the company wants to maintain its online monopoly in search engines, violating the antitrust laws. A parallel antitrust suit is also pending with Judge Mehta against Google by the State Attorney general.
The formal trial is not expected to start until the following year. Still, Thursday hearings were the first meaningful hearing in the case where both sides spelled out their views on the business carried out by Google.
The federal government filed the antitrust suit against Google during the last days of the Trump administration to rein in the tech giant’s powers which continues till today. On Thursday, the White House hosted a discussion with experts to explore the impact of major tech platforms on children’s health and the economy.
John Schmidtlein, the attorney for Google, said that the state and DOJ do not understand the market correctly and focus narrowly on the smaller search engine rivals such as Bing, DuckDuckGo, and Microsoft. On the contrary, Google faces competition from several companies, including Meta, TikTok, Amazon, Grub hub, and many other sites where users search for information.
The lawyers for Google, State, and DOJ all agreed that having fresh data is the key to success for a search engine. Google controls Chrome, the most popular browser, and Android, the second most popular operating system for mobile devices.
Exclusive contracts
Dinner in his presentation showed how Google functioned, and its default contracts have sidelined competitors. Google has contracts with Apple, Motorola, and Samsung for having its search engine as default on these mobiles. It has contracts with most browsers and three major telecom carriers in the US – Verizon Communications, T-Mobile, and AT&T.
The contract ensures that new mobile sets have Google pre-installed as the default search engine. Bing, the search engine from Microsoft, is by default on the Edge browser and tablets from Amazon.
The contract by Google makes it the gateway through which people can find websites on the internet and prevent rivals from achieving the same scale.
