- Eleven Republican AGs and the U.S. Department of Justice (“DOJ”) sued Google LLC over allegations that it used anticompetitive and exclusionary practices to maintain a monopoly in the search and search advertising markets in violation of the Sherman Act.
- The complaint alleges, among other things, that the almost 90 percent of all search queries in the U.S. that Google accounts for, in part is a result of its entering into multiple exclusionary agreements to make Google the default general search engine on billions of computers and mobile devices worldwide, and entered into tying arrangements to preinstall its app in prime locations on mobile devices and make the app undeletable. The complaint further alleges that these tactics harmed competition for advertisers and consumers by creating a monopoly and by reducing the ability of innovative new companies to offer an alternative to Google that would spur competition and better search services.
- The complaint seeks declaratory and injunctive relief, including structural relief to cure anticompetitive harm, and attorneys’ fees and costs.