A showdown between the US Department of Justice and Google begins

AMERICA’S trustbusters have long had their sights set on big tech. On Sep 12 in Washington, they at last fired their opening shots in the first courtroom battle of the modern Internet era. The Department of Justice (DoJ), along with 38 state attorneys-general, accuses Google of abusing its online-search monopoly to extract bigger profits, snuff out competition and slow innovation.

The case hinges on Google’s deals with smartphone makers and other firms that, the DoJ claims, perpetuate its dominance of search. Google allegedly pays more than US$10 billion a year to companies such as Apple to make its search engine the default on devices. Although the arrangements are not exclusive, they add friction for those who might have preferred another search provider.

More users bring more data, enabling Google to improve its products and lock in more users still. This flywheel, as Silicon Valley types refer to the notion that digital scale begets more scale, “always turns to Google’s advantage”, intoned Kenneth Dintzer, the DoJ’s lead courtroom counsel in the case.