The government, in its opening statements, argued that the $1.7 trillion company’s search engine partnerships illegally protected its monopoly, harming consumers.
The problem for the DOJ is that consumers readily dole out their data, and not just to Google.
Device manufacturers and browser creators choose Google because it’s the highest quality option, and users can easily pick another default search engine, John Schmidtlein, Google’s lead lawyer, argued.
The government’s lawyers have their work cut out for them, but a DOJ loss won’t mean a Google victory.
The company’s partnerships may set Google as the default search engine on devices and browsers, but users can usually change their default option with a few clicks.
Persons:
General Merrick Garland, Jonathan Kanter, Kenneth Dintzer, Dintzer, Amit Mehta, John Schmidtlein, Google’s, DOJ doesn’t, Google's, Lauren Silva Laughlin, Sharon Lam
Organizations:
U.S . Justice, Alphabet's Google, Justice Department, Reuters, U.S . Department of Justice, Alphabet’s, Google, DOJ, Microsoft, Court, Big Tech, Alphabet’s Google, Thomson
Locations:
WASHINGTON