A US District Court ruled that Google has violated Sherman Act (US’ anti-trust law) by maintaining its monopoly in two product markets – General Search Services (GSS) and General Text Advertising.

• Anti-trust laws prohibit Anti-Competitive Practices and monopolizing conduct to protect consumers from predatory business practices. 

Google’s Monopoly (as highlighted by Judgement)

• Google enjoys an 89.2% market share for GSS, which increases to 94.9% on mobile devices.
  • Google also controlled 88% of text advertising market in 2020.
• Google maintained its monopoly and stifled competition through:
  • Near-complete control of key distribution channels, posing a major entry barrier for other search companies.
  • Striking deals with Apple, Samsung and Verizon to be default search engine on their respective devices. 

Issues with Monopolistic Tendencies of Big Tech Companies

• Abuse of dominant position: Access to large datasets provides information control which may be misused for profit maximization or controlling the market.
• Winner-take-most: Nature of digital market is conducive for quick scaling and domination, restricting democratic competition, discouraging new market participants and impacting local economies.
• Anti-Competitive Practices (ACPs): India’s Parliamentary Standing Committee Report identified ten predominant ACPs undertaken by large digital enterprises (see infographic).