Google has illegal monopoly on online search, US judge finds

Ruling is first big win for antitrust officials, may lead to break-up of parent Alphabet

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Alphabet's Google broke the law with an illegal monopoly on online search, a federal judge ruled on Aug 5, the first big win for the United States antitrust authorities, who have filed several lawsuits challenging Big Tech's market dominance.

The ruling paves the way for a second trial to determine potential fixes, possibly including a break-up of Alphabet, that would change the landscape of the online advertising world that Google has dominated for years.

It is also a green light to US antitrust enforcers prosecuting Big Tech, which faces criticism from across the political spectrum.

"The court reaches the following conclusion: Google is a monopolist, and it has acted as one to maintain its monopoly," District Judge Amit Mehta wrote. The search engine giant controls about 90 per cent of the online search market, and 95 per cent on smartphones.

The "remedy" phase could be lengthy, followed by potential appeals to the DC Circuit and US Supreme Court.

The legal wrangling could play out into 2025, or even 2026.

Shares of Google parent Alphabet fell 4.3 per cent on Aug 5 as part of a broad tech share decline.

Google advertising was 77 per cent of Alphabet's total sales in 2023.