In response to news that Judge Amit Mehta has sided with the Department of Justice Antitrust Division in its case against Google—ruling that Google violated Section 2 of the Sherman Act by maintaining its monopoly in general search services and general text advertising through its billion dollar exclusive default deals—the American Economic Liberties Project released the following statements.
“This is one of the greatest antitrust victories in history and sends a resounding signal that the antimonopoly movement is here to stay,” said Nidhi Hegde, Interim Executive Director of the American Economic Liberties Project. “In finding Google to be an illegal monopolist for its unlawful search default deals, this ruling is a vindication of the Biden Administration’s reinvigorated competition agenda and a huge win for consumers, small businesses, and tech innovation. There is now broad recognition of the harm monopoly power poses to markets and a clear validation of the antimonopoly movement’s approach to governing — which sets a powerful precedent for future cases. Make no mistake: Antitrust law is back, and corporate America is now on notice.”
“Congratulations to AAG Kanter and the entire Antitrust Division team for delivering this unprecedented win against one of the most powerful companies in the world—while severely under-resourced in comparison,” added Hegde.
“This decision strikes at the core of how hundreds of millions of Americans experience the internet,” said Lee Hepner, Senior Legal Counsel at the American Economic Liberties Project. “It illustrates how Google has become one of the most powerful companies in the world while undermining innovation and degrading the quality of its core product. The remedy must match the Court’s striking verdict in this case. At a minimum that means an end to Google’s exclusive default agreements and breaking up business lines that have allowed Google to extend its monopoly into every corner of the internet
“The promise of antitrust enforcement is that it will fully restore competition where it has been lost,” added Hepner, “and we’ll be advocating that the court use all of its power to do so.”
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