Google illegally maintained an online search monopoly, a US court has said, in one of the biggest rulings against the company’s market dominance.

The tech giant has been successfully sued in federal court by the US Justice Department and states which argued it remained the most used internet search engine by paying smartphone makers billions to make Google the default on browsers and devices.

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This created anti-competitive barriers to entry for potential new or smaller search engines and further entrenched Google’s position, the government and 38 states and territories, led by Colorado and Nebraska, argued.

Regulators in the US have been trying to limit the power of tech giants like Google, Apple, Amazon and Meta through cases taken by the Justice Department as well as the Federal Trade Commission (FTC).

Exclusive searches and Google ads

In particular, it focussed on Google’s exclusive search agreement on Android, iPhones and iPads.

The department had argued Google conducted nearly 90% of web searches, a figure Google denied.

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Google ads. which generate billions for the company, also formed part of the case as the department and states said a monopoly was created inside search results. The price of ads was above what should exist within a free market, demonstrating Google’s power, the plaintiffs said.

Google said it had created a better service for consumers and was “winning because it’s better”.

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It was because Google had created a better service for consumers that it was so popular. It was “winning because it’s better”, the company argued.

No remedy was laid out by judge Amit Mehta of the US District Court for the District of Columbia on Monday. He could decide to order Google to sell part of the business or change the way it operates.

“Google is a monopolist, and it has acted as one to maintain its monopoly,” he said.

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Google now has a chance to appeal.

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