Judge declares Google a monopoly: what’s next?

A federal judge on Monday ruled against search engine giant Google in a landmark case alleging the company acted illegally to maintain a monopoly in search, saying it paid companies to make Google the default search engine on smartphones and other devices. The case has the potential to change the way tech companies do business, as well as the way their customers find answers to their online searches.

“After careful consideration and weighing of the testimony and the evidence, the court finds that Google is a monopolist and has conducted itself as such to maintain its monopoly,” wrote U.S. District Judge Amit Mehta. “It has violated Section 2 of the Sherman Act.”

Neither Google nor the Justice Department immediately responded to a request for comment. The case is likely to be appealed.

The 277-page ruling is shared online by The New York TimesThe trial, which took place last year, lasted 10 weeks and was years in the making.

What’s next and why is it so important?

Mehta’s statement did not include any possible remedies for Google’s behavior, The New York Times reportsIt is now up to Judge Mehta to decide and he could force the company to change its operations or even sell part of the business.

It is the first victory in a government antitrust case against technology companies since the historic victory against Microsoft in 1999. That case involved the so-called browser wars involving Microsoft’s Internet Explorer and Netscape Navigator. Although Microsoft lost that case, some aspects were reversed on appeal, which eventually led to a settlement in 2001.

Google’s case is not alone. Other tech companies, including Amazon, Apple, and Meta, are currently involved in antitrust lawsuits. Amazon is facing a October 2026 Federal Trade Commission Antitrust Lawsuit regarding whether the company used illegal strategies to inflate prices. That case concerns “combating attempts by sellers on its online marketplace to offer products cheaper on other platforms,” Reuters reports.

Are users switching default search engines?

The Google case focused on whether Google paid Apple and other companies to make its search engine the default on devices such as Apple’s iPhone. Google has said it does not have a monopoly by using such agreements and that consumers can change their device’s default settings to use other search engines.

Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella testified in October that the idea of ​​users switching from one search engine to another was “complete nonsense,” adding that “default settings are the only thing that matters when changing search behavior.”

According to the Justice Department, the Google search engine is used for nearly 90 percent of Internet searches, but the company disputes that percentage, the Times reports.

The Sherman Antitrust Act dates back to 1890 and prohibits activities that restrain interstate commerce and competition in the marketplace, effectively banning corporate monopolies. It is considered the cornerstone of U.S. antitrust law, dating back to the federal government’s breakup of Gilded Age industrial giants in the late 19th century.

This is a current news item and is being updated.