The US government sues Google for alleged anticompetitive abuses in search

Washington CNN Business — The Trump administration on Tuesday sued Google in what is the largest antitrust case against a tech company in more than two decades. “Nothing is off the table,” said Deputy Attorney General Jeffrey Rosen, who warned that if DOJ did not file suit now, “we could lose the next wave of innovation” and that “Americans may never get to see the next Google.” “Today’s lawsuit by the Department of Justice is deeply flawed,” Google SVP Global Affairs and Chief Legal Officer Kent Walker wrote in a blog post. Google said its practice of paying to be the default search engine on smartphones like Apple’s is “no different” from moves by other businesses to promote their products, “just like a cereal brand might pay a supermarket to stock its products at the end of a row or on a shelf at eye level.” Rosen said that the Google suit represents a “milestone” but not the end of DOJ’s wide-ranging review of the tech industry, and that other lawsuits could be filed “where necessary.” The landmark federal complaint follows a year-long antitrust probe by DOJ investigators and comes right before an election in which tech platforms have been scrutinized for their impact on democracy and small business. “This is a historic time for both federal and state antitrust authorities, as we work to protect competition and innovation in our technology markets.” The Justice Department’s suit against Google marks the most consequential step the US government has taken to hold Silicon Valley to account after Washington took a dramatic turn against the tech industry following evidence that major social media platforms were manipulated by foreign election meddling efforts in 2016. Last year, Trump told Fox Business that “we should be suing Google and Facebook and all that, which perhaps we will, okay?” Trump’s remarks could complicate any lawsuit targeting the tech companies.