NPR, October 2023
For the past six weeks, the Justice Department and dozens of top state prosecutors have tried to prove that Google illegally used its monopoly power to ensure its search engine remained on top. Now, it’s Google’s turn to lay out for the judge in this landmark trial why it thinks the government is wrong.
The $1.7 trillion company is expected to argue that it dominates in search because it has the best technology and, so, people prefer it. On Monday, it’s bringing in a star witness to testify: Alphabet and Google CEO Sundar Pichai. Pichai has a deep history with Google’s search engine business. He’s expected to testify that Google has worked to achieve the best search product for consumers, and that has only helped to serve competition.
The court battle between Google and the government is the first major tech monopoly case to make it to trial in decades and the first in the age of the modern internet. The last time a case of this magnitude went to court was in 1998 against Microsoft. In that case, the judge ruled in favor of the government, saying Microsoft violated antitrust laws.
