United States v. Google LLC

The United States government and 15 state governments (the governments) (plaintiffs) sued Google LLC (defendant) for violation of § 2 of the Sherman Act. The governments alleged that Google established and used exclusionary tactics to maintain a monopoly in the general-search-services market. The governments alleged that the best way for a search engine to attract and maintain users was to be the default search engine on computers and mobile devices. This was because a default search engine had de facto exclusivity because users did not frequently change their default search engines. The governments alleged that Google paid billions of dollars to device manufacturers (e.g., Apple, LG, Motorola, and Samsung), wireless companies (e.g., AT&T, T-Mobile, and Verizon), and web-browser developers (e.g., Mozilla, Opera, and UCWeb) to ensure that Google’s search engine would be the default search engine for as many users as possible. The governments alleged that Google, in some cases, ensured that its competitors would be prohibited from dealing with these other parties. The governments alleged that due to Google’s exclusionary contracts and owned-and-operated properties, the company owned or controlled almost 90 percent of search-engine searches, including almost 95 percent of such searches on mobile devices. The governments alleged that Google sold advertising based on users’ searches and other user information. The governments alleged that Google used these revenues—approximately $40 billion per year—to make the previously mentioned payments to the device manufacturers, wireless companies, and web-browser developers. The governments alleged that these agreements created high barriers to entry for potential competitors. Further, the governments alleged that Google’s monopoly was self-reinforcing because search engines relied on algorithms to provide the best results for users. The more searches on a search engine meant the more data in the algorithm, resulting in stronger search results. Thus, the governments alleged that Google’s stranglehold on the market prevented any competitors from operating effectively even if they were able to get over the high barriers to entry.