Source: Chicago Tribune

The Justice Department on Tuesday sued Google for antitrust violations, alleging that it abused its dominance in online search and advertising to stifle competition and harm consumers.

Lawmakers and consumer advocates have long accused Google, whose corporate parent Alphabet Inc. has a market value of just over $1 trillion, of abusing its dominance in online search and advertising to stifle competition and boost its profits.

Google responded immediately via tweet: “Today’s lawsuit by the Department of Justice is deeply flawed. People use Google because they choose to – not because they’re forced to or because they can’t find alternatives.” The case was filed in federal court in Washington, D.C. It alleges that Google uses billions of dollars collected from advertisers to payphone manufacturers to ensure Google is the default search engine on browsers.

The Democratic congressman who led that investigation called Tuesday’s action “Long overdue” but said it’s important for the Justice Department to look beyond Google’s search business.

It is critical that the Justice Department’s lawsuit focuses on Google’s monopolization of search and search advertising, while also targeting the anti-competitive business practices Google is using to leverage this monopoly into other areas, such as maps, browsers, video, and voice assistants,” Rep. David Cicilline of Rhode Island said in a statement.

The argument for reining in Google has gathered force as the company stretched far beyond its 1998 roots as a search engine governed by the motto “Don’t Be Evil.” It’s since grown into a diversified goliath with online tentacles that scoop up personal data from billions of people via services ranging from search, video, and maps to smartphone software.

Full Story @ Chicago Tribune