US authorities sue Google for abuse of dominant position
The US Department of Justice has announced the opening of antitrust proceedings against Google, accusing the world's leading online search engine of abuse of dominance.
REUTERS / Hannah McKay
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4 min
The American justice system and 11 states filed a complaint on Tuesday, October 20 against Google for abuse of a dominant position in the field of search and online advertising, the result of a year of investigation which also targeted Facebook and Apple.
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In the United States, the Department of Justice and the main federal competition authority (FTC) filed on Tuesday, October 20, a complaint for abuse of dominant position in the field of research and online advertising.
Eleven states, all Republicans, have joined in this process.
They accuse Google of illegally maintaining its monopoly on online research, in particular through exclusive commercial agreements that lock in competition.
Google, for example, paid billions of dollars to Apple to have its search engine appear by default on iPhones.
According to the Department of Justice, these practices harm users, advertisers and small businesses by giving them less choice, higher ad prices and lower quality.
"
If we let Google continue its practices, we will lose the next wave of innovators. The time has come to restore competition in this vital sector
," said the Department of Justice in its press release.
The American authorities are calling for structural changes, which could lead to the dismantling of the Californian giant, indicates our correspondent in Washington,
Anne Corpet
.
The US administration has made this issue a hobbyhorse by launching a series of surveys over a year ago targeting the practices of Google, Amazon, Apple and Facebook.
Its leaders were auditioned this summer by members of Congress.
The Alphabet subsidiary reacted on Twitter by denouncing serious shortcomings in the complaint.
"
If the customer chooses Google, it is by choice and not by lack of alternative
", defends the company.
Today's lawsuit by the Department of Justice is deeply flawed.
People use Google because they choose to - not because they're forced to or because they can't find alternatives.
We will have a full statement this morning.
Google Public Policy (@googlepubpolicy) October 20, 2020
The European authorities had already ruled last year by imposing a fine of 4.3 billion euros on the Alphabet group for unfair practices.
Not enough to thrill the giant, capitalized at 800 billion dollars.
The procedure launched by the US government could take years.
But her strength is that she enjoys wide support.
It is in any case the most important legal action in more than 20 years carried out by the American federal government against one of its giants of new technologies.
The last such action was taken 22 years ago against Microsoft.
It had resulted in an amicable settlement.
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