It’s only been a few months since the US Department of Justice filed an antitrust lawsuit against Google, but it sounds legal battles are on the horizon. According to The Wall Street Journal, both federal and state antitrust authorities will be filing new lawsuits against Google and Facebook. This would mark the first time that Facebook has been sued by the government on antitrust grounds.
Google has made plenty of statements in the past defending its practices, essentially saying that consumers aren’t forced to use Google products and services and that they exist as part of a competitive technology marketplace. Broadly speaking, the case against Google is that it uses its dominance in search and search advertising to box out potential competitors; among its tactics is paying to have Android phone manufacturers set Google search as default and pre-loading devices with Google apps. The company also pays to have Google set as the default search engine on the iPhone, as well.
