How Google's Antitrust Trial Could Change Internet Search

In the ongoing court battle between Google and the U.S. Justice Department over whether the company has violated an antitrust law, the stakes are high. The outcome of the 10-week trial, which will be decided by U.S. District Judge Amit Mehta, could fundamentally change the way people search the internet and reduce revenue for the company that has the most common search engine for online users. The civil antitrust lawsuit is the first to go to trial in a series of cases targeting other big tech companies like Meta and Amazon. But this particular suit, brought forward by the Justice Department and eleven other states, alleges that Google illegally monopolizes search engine services--spending billions to do so-- making it the default company through which advertising companies and website publishers purchase and sell ads. "The question is whether [Google] is entrenching its monopoly and closing off avenues for competitors to try to develop a competitive search engine," says Eleanor Fox, professor at New York University School of Law.