Google’s antitrust loss is a hollow victory for regulators

IN A “blockbuster” ruling published Monday (Aug 5), US judge Amit Mehta stated it clearly enough: “Google is a monopolist, and it has acted as one to maintain its monopoly.”

As most media outlets have reported, it is the most significant victory for the antitrust hawks since Microsoft lost its famous case in the 1990s. That one was about access to web browsers. The Google case was about access to search engines. What they both share in common is a question around the competitive benefit of being the default option presented to users. The court ruled that Google’s payment of billions of dollars for the privilege was illegal.

Next comes a series of hearings to determine what should be done about it. This is where it gets tricky – and dispiriting. Unfortunately, if the goal is to curb Google’s dominance, the options floated so far are uninspiring at best.