KazPost

Kazakhstan News
Friday, Mar 29, 2024

Antitrust: Lawsuits force Google to play defense

Antitrust: Lawsuits force Google to play defense

The smartest insight and analysis, from all perspectives, rounded up from around the web
After years of prodding from competitors and critics, Google is facing "a mountain of lawsuits" challenging its dominance of the internet, said Jennifer Saba and Gina Chon at Reuters BreakingViews. Recently, 38 states charged the search-engine giant with trying to use its power to "muscle its way" into similar control in areas from cars to smarthome devices.

The new claims add to a suit filed earlier by 10 states, led by Texas, that accuses Google of misusing its power in internet advertising. All this comes on top of an October lawsuit from the Justice Department centered on deals the company made with phone makers to give its search engine a favored spot.

Taken together, the lawsuits promise "the release of reams of documents, including potentially embarrassing emails" that will leave Google locked in litigation for years. For Google, the burden of defending itself could turn out to be "death by 1,000 briefs."

This is just the start of a long and painful process, said Brent Kendall at The Wall Street Journal. The U.S. district judge in Washington "set a tentative trial date" for the DOJ's case: Sept. 12, 2023. "If anybody thought we would be getting to trial quickly," the judge said, "this certainly will dispel that notion."

The most sensational wrinkle in these antitrust cases comes in the Texas suit, said Gilad Edelman at Wired. In it, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton says Google made "an unlawful agreement" with ­Facebook — a deal code-named Jedi Blue by the ­companies — to send publishers to Google rather than competing ad platforms.

This "falls under Section 1 of the Sherman Antitrust Act," which bars concerted efforts between companies to restrain competition, and is a simpler case to make than proving Google abused monopoly power. That said, "the complaint is maddeningly redacted," and the suit was brought by an attorney general who is "fresh off a losing effort to overturn the presidential election."

The three major lawsuits filed against the company include a raft of accusations, but are short on demonstrating "tangible consumer harm," said Billy Binion at Reason. What most rankles the states and the Justice Department is "Google's bigness." Yes, "the tech giant maintains the biggest share of internet search, with current estimates landing at 88 percent."

But the remedies being tossed around just make things worse for users. States want to break up Google's businesses to give competitors such as Yelp and TripAdvisor a chance to top off search results, which now tend to highlight Google's own services. Instead of getting "direct answers and relevant information" you'll scroll through pages of inferior results­ — an outcome that consumers don't actually want.

The Google suits have already become entangled in partisan warfare, said The Washington Post in an editorial, and it's hard to separate the legitimate concerns about competition from the "state-sponsored bullying." Google's role as buyer, seller, and middleman in the ad markets points to a need for regulation.

But the Texas case was "filed exclusively by Republican attorneys general" and has so many redactions it is "impossible to evaluate on the merits." Democrats want the incoming Biden administration to "grapple with companies' outsize power," but the new president will have to first "dispel the partisan cloud that his predecessor has cast" over tech regulation.
Newsletter

Related Articles

KazPost
0:00
0:00
Close
It's always the people with the dirty hands pointing their fingers
Paper straws found to contain long-lasting and potentially toxic chemicals - study
FTX's Bankman-Fried headed for jail after judge revokes bail
Blackrock gets half a trillion dollar deal to rebuild Ukraine
America's First New Nuclear Reactor in Nearly Seven Years Begins Operations
Southeast Asia moves closer to economic unity with new regional payments system
Today Hunter Biden’s best friend and business associate, Devon Archer, testified that Joe Biden met in Georgetown with Russian Moscow Mayor's Wife Yelena Baturina who later paid Hunter Biden $3.5 million in so called “consulting fees”
Singapore Carries Out First Execution of a Woman in Two Decades Amid Capital Punishment Debate
Google testing journalism AI. We are doing it already 2 years, and without Google biased propoganda and manipulated censorship
Unlike illegal imigrants coming by boats - US Citizens Will Need Visa To Travel To Europe in 2024
Musk announces Twitter name and logo change to X.com
The future of sports
Unveiling the Black Hole: The Mysterious Fate of EU's Aid to Ukraine
Farewell to a Music Titan: Tony Bennett, Renowned Jazz and Pop Vocalist, Passes Away at 96
Alarming Behavior Among Florida's Sharks Raises Concerns Over Possible Cocaine Exposure
Transgender Exclusion in Miss Italy Stirs Controversy Amidst Changing Global Beauty Pageant Landscape
TikTok Takes On Spotify And Apple, Launches Own Music Service
Global Trend: Using Anti-Fake News Laws as Censorship Tools - A Deep Dive into Tunisia's Scenario
Arresting Putin During South African Visit Would Equate to War Declaration, Asserts President Ramaphosa
Hacktivist Collective Anonymous Launches 'Project Disclosure' to Unearth Information on UFOs and ETIs
Typo sends millions of US military emails to Russian ally Mali
Server Arrested For Theft After Refusing To Pay A Table's $100 Restaurant Bill When They Dined & Dashed
The Changing Face of Europe: How Mass Migration is Reshaping the Political Landscape
China Urges EU to Clarify Strategic Partnership Amid Trade Tensions
Europe is boiling: Extreme Weather Conditions Prevail Across the Continent
The Last Pour: Anchor Brewing, America's Pioneer Craft Brewer, Closes After 127 Years
Democracy not: EU's Digital Commissioner Considers Shutting Down Social Media Platforms Amid Social Unrest
Sarah Silverman and Renowned Authors Lodge Copyright Infringement Case Against OpenAI and Meta
Why Do Tech Executives Support Kennedy Jr.?
The New York Times Announces Closure of its Sports Section in Favor of The Athletic
BBC Anchor Huw Edwards Hospitalized Amid Child Sex Abuse Allegations, Family Confirms
Florida Attorney General requests Meta CEO's testimony on company's platforms' alleged facilitation of illicit activities
The Distorted Mirror of actual approval ratings: Examining the True Threat to Democracy Beyond the Persona of Putin
40,000 child slaves in Congo are forced to work in cobalt mines so we can drive electric cars.
Historic Moment: Edgars Rinkevics, EU's First Openly Gay Head of State, Takes Office as Latvia's President
An Ominous Shift in Warfare: Western Powers Risk War Crimes and Violate International Norms with Cluster Bomb Supply to Ukraine
Bye bye democracy, human rights, freedom: French Cops Can Now Secretly Activate Phone Cameras, Microphones And GPS To Spy On Citizens
The Poor Man With Money, Mark Zuckerberg, Unveils Twitter Replica with Heavy-Handed Censorship: A New Low in Innovation?
The Double-Edged Sword of AI: AI is linked to layoffs in industry that created it
US Sanctions on China's Chip Industry Backfire, Prompting Self-Inflicted Blowback
Meta Copy Twitter with New App, Threads
The New French Revolution
BlackRock Bitcoin ETF Application Refiled, Naming Coinbase as ‘Surveillance-Sharing’ Partner
Corruption in the European Parliament - Business as usual
UK Crypto and Stablecoin Regulations Become Law as Royal Assent is Granted
Paris Suburb Grapples with Violence as Curfew Imposed: Saint-Denis Residents Express Dismay and Anger
A Delaware city wants to let businesses vote in its elections
Alef Aeronautics Achieves Historic Milestone with Flight Certification for World's First Flying Car
Google Blocked Access to Canadian News in Response to New Legislation
French Politicians Advocate for Pan-European Regulation on Social Media Influencers
×