Tech giant Google is gearing up for a lengthy battle following its recent loss to the federal government over what a court referred to as monopolistic practices in search and ad search, CEO Sundar Pichai stated in a Bloomberg video last week.
“We plan to appeal, and this process will probably take many years,” Pichai said during the David Rubenstein show. “I’m confident that, since we’re focused on innovation in technology, we’ll succeed in the long run.”
In August, a federal district court ruled that Google violated Section 2 of the Sherman Antitrust Act due to agreements with Apple, Samsung, and other companies, which gave Google exclusive rights to have its search app pre-installed on their devices.
In a court filing earlier this month, the Department of Justice, which initiated the action, stated that, in spite of its court defeat, it is taking into consideration suggestions that would dismantle the business in order to prevent it from controlling search once more.
In its October 8 filing, DOJ stated that “plaintiffs have a duty to seek—and the Court has the authority to impose—an order that not only addresses the harms that already exist as a result of Google’s illegal conduct but also prevents and restrains recurrence of the same offense of illegal monopoly maintenance that goes forward.”
Google has stated it will challenge any attempt to break up the company.
“The government seems to be advancing a broad agenda that could affect multiple industries and products, potentially causing serious unintended consequences for consumers, businesses, and the nation’s competitiveness,” said Lee-Anne Mulholland, Google’s vice president of regulatory affairs. “This case is focused on a particular set of search distribution contracts.”
Court success
According to Pichai, judges are beginning to reconsider the harsh stance governments have taken against Google.
The EU’s highest court last month overturned a $1.7 billion punishment that the European Commission had imposed on the corporation for its search dominance, arguing that the commission had neglected to consider all the variables that affected Google’s search performance.
Pichai mentioned that top court decision when he told Rubenstein, “Just last week there was a European court ruling that overruled the earlier decision.” “But these things take a while; the process took nearly ten years in a row.”
The business is also contesting additional EU antitrust penalties it was hit with.
There are just a few antitrust cases Google is or has fought in the United States and Europe, including the one against the firm for its dominance in search and ad-search. The DOJ brought a complaint against it in January because of the anti-competitive ad-bidding platform it offers businesses. The pretrial discovery phase of the case is ongoing. Additionally, a jury determined that Google’s Play Store constituted an illegal monopoly last year, and the company lost the lawsuit.
In these cases, judges and prosecutors have criticized Google for what they describe as bad-faith efforts to conceal emails and other internal communications. For instance, in the ad-bidding platform case, U.S. District Court Judge Leonie Brinkema condemned the company’s “absolutely inappropriate and improper” legal hold practices. Similarly, in the Play Store case, the DOJ accused Google of intentionally destroying evidence.
In his comments to Rubenstein, Pichai emphasized that the business had acted honestly in handling the situation. He stated, “We’ve always participated in these processes in a very courteous and responsive manner.”
