A significant U.S. federal court decision that found tech giant Google in breach of antitrust rules because of its overwhelming control over the search engine market is being appealed, the company has stated.
The ruling was rendered by a district court in Washington, D.C., which found that Google had illegally established a monopoly in the general search services market through exclusive agreements and restrictive practices that hurt competition and impeded innovation.
Google’s agreements with browsers and device manufacturers, such as Apple and Mozilla, that made Google Search the default engine, frequently in exchange for billions of dollars a year, were at the heart of the dispute.
The court accepted the U.S. Department of Justice’s contention that these agreements unfairly prevented competing search engines like Bing, DuckDuckGo, and Ecosia from entering the market.
“Google used its market power not to innovate or offer a better product but to box out competitors,” said a DOJ spokesperson following the district court ruling.
In a post on its official X page, Google stated that it would appeal the court ruling, stating that the suggested fixes were excessive and “wouldharm consumers.”
“We will wait for the Court’s opinion,” Google wrote. “And we still strongly believe the Court’s original decision was wrong and look forward to our eventual appeal.”
The decision might change the direction of internet search and is one of the biggest legal obstacles the corporation has encountered in its two-decade history.
