The Google logo (illustration).

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Jens Meyer / AP / SIPA

The United States has taken the plunge to launch a legal battle against its technological giants.

The startups of twenty years ago are worth trillions of dollars and have accumulated such power that the government on Tuesday launched a lawsuit against Google for abuse of dominance.

This foreshadows possible similar actions against Apple, Facebook and Amazon.

Illegal monopoly pursuit

For the number two of the Department of Justice, Jeffrey Rosen, Google "has maintained its monopoly through practices aimed at excluding competition and harming it".

The ministry and 11 states therefore brought a civil action against the company for illegal pursuit of a monopoly in its general research services and in its advertising research services.

The company is criticized for having used and abused techniques to exclude its competitors.

For example, it is the default search engine on many devices and browsers, including its own (Chrome), and on Android, its mobile operating system, which dominates the world.

The ministry accuses it of forcing consumers and advertisers to use its services on Android devices via apps that cannot be deleted, such as Google Maps, which considerably restricts competition.

Towards dismantling?

The complaint filed in Washington calls for "structural" changes, and therefore suggests a possible dismantling of certain parts of the leader in online research.

"We are not ruling out any option, but the remedies will have to be decided by the court," said Ryan Shores, senior adviser for the technology industry in the ministry.

The lawsuits could last for several years.

For its part, Google described this complaint as "dubious".

"People use Google by choice and not because they are forced or do not find alternatives", defended Kent Walker, a vice president of the group.

"We are not in 1990, when changing service was long and complicated, and required the purchase and installation of software with a CD-ROM", he laughed, before mentioning many applications. ultra-popular such as Spotify, Amazon or Facebook which are not installed by default on smartphones.

He also reminds that his services are free and therefore benefit the greatest number.

Concomitance with the presidential

The date of the announcement, two weeks before the US presidential election, however, arouses much criticism.

The lawsuits were "rushed on the eve of an election where the administration is aggressively pressuring tech companies to act in its favor."

Competition law should be guided by the interests of consumers and not by political motivations, ”responded Matt Schruers of the Computer & Communications Industry Association, which brings together the big names in the sector.

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