Google responds to allegations from the United States Department of Justice that it’s maintaining an illegal monopoly over search and search advertising.
A lawsuit was filed in a federal court in Washington, D.C., on Tuesday. Google is being accused of maintaining a monopoly through several exclusive business contracts and agreements that lock out competition.
Google has issued an official response to the lawsuit calling it “deeply flawed,” and claiming it does “nothing to help consumers.”
“Today’s lawsuit by the Department of Justice is deeply flawed. People use Google because they choose to, not because they’re forced to, or because they can’t find alternatives.”
Google goes on to say that, rather than helping consumers, the lawsuit will artificially promote “lower-quality” alternative search engines.
In addition, Google hypothesizes the lawsuit will also raise phone prices and make it harder for people to get the search services they want to use.
The historic lawsuit could stretch on for several years, according to technology policy experts at The New York Times.
A similar lawsuit against Microsoft took over a decade to settle.
So we’re unlikely to get a satisfying conclusion any time soon, which makes this a particularly interesting story to follow.
Updating…
Sources: Google, The New York Times
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