Following a nine-week bench trial starting in September 2023 and
closing arguments in May 2024, District of Columbia district court
judge Amit Mehta ruled on August
5, 2024, that Google illegally maintained its monopoly in markets
for general search services and general search text advertisements
in violation of Section 2 of the Sherman Antitrust Act. The case
was initially brought in 2020 when the U.S. Department of Justice
(DOJ) and nearly every state's attorney general sued Google,
alleging that it unlawfully uses distribution agreements to stifle
competition and maintain its monopoly position in multiple markets
relating to online search and advertising.
The government plaintiffs' allegations were centered
around distribution agreements through which Google pays device
manufacturers such as Apple and Samsung billions of dollars per
year to make its search engine the default on their devices. The
plaintiffs alleged that Google likewise spent billions of
