A major antitrust lawsuit against Google in the United States is becoming weaker than prosecutors had hoped. A judge has dismissed various allegations because it hasn’t been adequately proven that Google’s search results are causing harm to competitors. The lawsuit revolves around Google’s alleged monopoly behavior in the search engine market. American states accused Google of making it difficult for internet users to find other search engines. However, the judge ruled that this hasn’t been proven convincingly. Google had requested the judge’s ruling in an attempt to have the case dismissed. Ultimately, the judge granted this request in certain aspects, but he allowed other accusations by the U.S. Justice Department to proceed. Google’s search engine is set as the default on most devices due to contracts with companies like Motorola and Samsung. This has led to the accusation that Google unfairly disadvantages competitors like Microsoft’s Bing and DuckDuckGo. The case, set for September, will now focus on this specific aspect. The judge has stated that he needs more evidence before determining whether Google’s deals are permissible or not. “A company with a monopoly acts unlawfully only if its behavior suppresses competition,” the judge stated. The fact that Google’s brand name has become so ubiquitous that it’s recognized as a verb in dictionaries does not change this. The prosecutors need to provide evidence for each specific accusation. Google is content with the ruling Google has expressed satisfaction that the judge dismissed some of the claims. The company stated, “We look forward to demonstrating during the trial that promoting and distributing our services is both legal and promotes competition.” The Attorney General of the state of Colorado also said he’s pleased with the judge’s ruling. He mentioned, “We will continue to assess how we can best proceed and determine Google’s illegal and harmful behavior.”
