Thread by @finshots

Why is the US govt suing Google in the biggest antitrust suit in decades?

A thread

Of late, Google’s enormous size and market dominance has been of grave concern to the US Govt. The behemoth’s consumer offerings include a ubiquitous search engine, widely used maps, a popular video platform, and an Android operating system used in about 90% of all smartphones.

1) Web Searches:

In the US, Google is responsible for 90% of online searches. Competitors have accused Google of displaying search bias. Google likes to put its own products, like local business listings,at the forefront of search results so that it appears before that of rivals

Apart from this, it also uses content from other websites to give users answers to commonly asked questions directly on the search results page, instead of just providing links to the sites. This reduces traffic for these content providers, understandably pissing them off.

2) Search Distribution

Google signs exclusive contracts with device makers to provide its search engine as a default option. For e.g, in 2018, Google paid Apple $9Bn to get its search engine on the Safari web browser- something smaller competitors don’t have the resources to do.

Then there’s Android. Google owns this operating system which powers 9/10 smartphones globally. And so, Google can force phone makers to pre-install its browser and search bar in their devices- a practice which majorly restricts competitors from reaching the same users.

3) Advertisements

Another highly problematic area is Google’s dominance over ads on third-party sites, i.e. outside of search results or other google websites. These are ads that usually pop-up on the margins when you’re trying to read an article online.

Through some strategic acquisitions, Google has made it impossible for advertisers & publishers (the website on which you see the ad) to do business directly with each other- it’s mostly routed via Google. And this gives Google the ability to inflate the price of ads.

Think it's unfair?This is what Google has to say-“Our products increase choice & expand competition. They level the playing field for small businesses everywhere-enabling them to sell their products, find customers, reduce their costs & in difficult times, get back on their feet”