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The
government, which filed its lawsuit in the waning days of the
Trump administration, will likely defend its complaint, which
said that Alphabet's Google acts illegally in paying billions of
dollars each year to smartphone makers like Apple, LG, Motorola
and Samsung, carriers like Verizon and browsers like Mozilla to
be the default search for their customers.
Google has argued in court filings that the payments are legal
revenue-sharing deals and not illegal efforts to exclude rivals.
The case is being heard by Judge Amit Mehta of the U.S. District
Court for the District of Columbia. The case is slated for trial
in September.
Google's motion is the Internet company's latest attempt to get
out of several costly and time-consuming lawsuits from state and
federal governments aimed at reining in its market power.
The Justice Department sued Google in 2020, accusing the $1
trillion company of illegally using its market muscle to hobble
rivals in the biggest challenge to the power and influence of
Big Tech since it sued Microsoft Corp for anti-competitive
practices in 1998. A settlement left the company intact although
the decision to rein in Microsoft left room for Google, which
was founded in 1998, and others to thrive.
Since this lawsuit was filed, Google has been hit with other
antitrust complaints. The Justice Department filed a second
lawsuit in January accusing the company of abusing its dominance
of the digital advertising business.
A group of states led by Texas also sued on ad tech in 2020
while states led by Utah filed a lawsuit in 2021 saying the
company broke antitrust law in handling its play store.
(Reporting by Diane Bartz; Editing by Aurora Ellis)
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