Federal judge rules Google holds illegal monopoly in search antitrust verdict

US District Judge Amit Mehta rules that Google illegally maintained a monopoly in the general search and search advertising markets in violation of Section 2 of the Sherman Antitrust Act. The ruling finds that Google spent approximately $26.3 billion in 2021 paying Apple, Mozilla, and others to be the default search engine on their devices, effectively foreclosing competition. The Biden DOJ, which filed the case in 2020 and pressed it aggressively, calls it a victory for consumers and competition. It is the most significant antitrust ruling against a major technology company since Judge Thomas Penfield Jackson found Microsoft liable in 2000. A remedies trial is ordered to determine what structural or behavioral changes Google must make.