How Google Lost Its Antitrust Case to the U.S.
Google had a thin line to walk in going up against the U.S. government.
For the second time in eight months, Google lost an antitrust case in the U.S. Following the December 2023 loss to Epic Games, which was more embarrassing than anything for Google, the search giant gave the U.S. government its first antitrust win as part of its anti-Big Tech crusade.
Google had a thin line to walk in going up against the U.S. government. The company needed to talk up its search acumen, but not so much as to imply that no other company could realistically compete. If the court ran with a narrow relevant product market – which it ended up doing – Google would have even less room to breathe. There is no denying that Google holds a monopoly in general search. While holding ~90% market share is legal, the practices and behavior used to retain that 90% market share can be found to be illegal.
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The U.S. Government’s Weak Hand Against Big Tech Antitrust
Earlier this week, the U.S. government unveiled its long-awaited antitrust complaint against Apple. This followed previously unveiled antitrust cases against Meta (2020), Amazon (2023), and Google (2020), which are in different stages of playing out in court. There is one commonality found among the complaints: the U.S. government is struggling to get around the fact that Big Tech plays in competitive markets.
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Payment is processed by Memberful and secured by Stripe. Apple Pay and other mobile payment options are accepted. Special bundle pricing is available for Above Avalon members.
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Receive Exclusive Essays. The cornerstone of an Inside Orchard subscription is access to Neil’s weekly essays on the latest developments in the technology industry. Weekly essays are ~1,000 words and sent via email. Essays revolve around the following topics: technology industry analysis, business model analysis, technology’s impact on societal and consumer trends. Create a free profile to read a few sample essays.
Access Exclusive Private Podcast. Listen to Inside Orchard essays via an exclusive private podcast. After becoming a member, all previously-published podcast episodes become available in your favorite podcast player. Podcast episodes never become available to the public.
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