05/02/2024

As a Landmark 'Monopoly Power' Trial Closes, Here's What to Examine

This week, a trial between the Justice Department and Google comes to a finale

The landmark monopoly trial between the U.S. Justice Department and Google comes to a finale this week. After a five-month hiatus, both sides will present closing arguments starting Thursday aiming to persuade the federal judge why they should win the case.

The Justice Department has accused Google of illegally abusing its power as a monopoly to control the search engine business — leading to competitors being sidelined and customers being shortchanged by getting a lower quality experience. Google, for its part, has argued its search engine is simply the best, that's why it's the most popular — not because of its business dealings.

It's the first high-profile monopoly case to go to trial among a handful that the U.S. government has brought against tech companies in recent years. The U.S. has also sued Amazon, Apple and Facebook parent Meta over business practices it says hurts both rivals and consumers.

Please select this link to read the complete article from NPR.