Google has illegal monopoly over internet search and advertising market: US Court | Current Affairs | Vision IAS
News Today Logo

Google has illegal monopoly over internet search and advertising market: US Court

Posted 07 Aug 2024

Updated 09 Aug 2024

2 min read

A US District Court ruled that Google has violated Sherman Act (US’ anti-trust law) by maintaining its monopoly in two product markets – General Search Services (GSS) and General Text Advertising.

  • Anti-trust laws prohibit Anti-Competitive Practices and monopolizing conduct to protect consumers from predatory business practices. 

Google’s Monopoly (as highlighted by Judgement)

  • Google enjoys an 89.2% market share for GSS, which increases to 94.9% on mobile devices.
    • Google also controlled 88% of text advertising market in 2020.
  • Google maintained its monopoly and stifled competition through:
    • Near-complete control of key distribution channels, posing a major entry barrier for other search companies.
    • Striking deals with Apple, Samsung and Verizon to be default search engine on their respective devices. 
An infographic detailing out various Anti-Competitive Practices (ACPs) undertaken by large digital enterprises.

Issues with Monopolistic Tendencies of Big Tech Companies

  • Abuse of dominant position: Access to large datasets provides information control which may be misused for profit maximization or controlling the market.
  • Winner-take-most: Nature of digital market is conducive for quick scaling and domination, restricting democratic competition, discouraging new market participants and impacting local economies.
  • Anti-Competitive Practices (ACPs): India’s Parliamentary Standing Committee Report identified ten predominant ACPs undertaken by large digital enterprises (see infographic).

 

Regulation of Big Tech Companies in India

  • Competition Act, 2002 (as amended in 2023) prohibits anticompetitive agreements and abuse of dominance. 
    • It establishes Competition Commission of India (CCI) to eliminate ACPs, promote competition, protect consumers’ interest and ensure freedom of trade.
  • Draft Digital Competition Bill, 2024: It aims at predictive regulation based on potential anti-trust issues and identifying Systematically Significant Digital Enterprise (SSDE).
  • Consumer Protection Act, 2019: Aims to address unfair trade practices. 
  • Tags :
  • Competition (Amendment) Act 2023
  • Competition Commission of India (CCI)
  • Antitrust
  • Monopoly
Watch News Today