80% of all U.S. internet search requests made through mobile devices use Google. | Stock Photo
80% of all U.S. internet search requests made through mobile devices use Google. | Stock Photo
Attorneys General for Michigan and Wisconsin recently announced that their states have filed to join the U.S. Department of Justice's (DOJ) antitrust lawsuit against Google, according to Michigan.gov.
The DOJ lawsuit alleges that Google violates federal antitrust laws by entering into business agreements that stifle competition. Google has allegedly entered into contracts to pay billions of dollars annually to electronics manufacturers including Apple and Samsung, and to carrier services including AT&T, Verizon and T-Mobile, to make Google the default internet search engine on millions of mobile devices. Some of those contracts allegedly prohibit companies from signing similar agreements with Google's competitors.
“Google’s alleged aggressive and anti-competitive business practices have allowed it to solidify its grasp on the market and stifled competition to the detriment of consumers,”Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel said.“By monopolizing the internet search functions used by so many, and the lucrative advertisements that are tied to it, the company has established significant control over what marketing products are being pushed out to consumers, the search results users are presented and, most importantly, the data those users have – in some cases, unwittingly – provided. This is an unlawful practice that must be corrected to provide the market with competitive alternatives to improve search-engine capabilities for the benefit of consumers.”
“Google has amassed an enormous amount of data about consumers that it uses to block competition,” Wisconsin Attorney General Josh Kaulsaid. “Replacing Google’s monopoly with fair competition in the market for search services will benefit consumers.”
Google is preinstalled as the default search provider on all Apple devices and on virtually all devices running the Android operating system. 80% of all U.S. internet search requests made through mobile devices use Google’s search engine and approximately 90% of all U.S. internet searches in the U.S. are made on Google.
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