Google Maps Case Win Spotlights Product Antitrust Claim Hurdles

The dismissal of a case accusing Alphabet Inc.‘s Google of dominating the GPS navigation market highlights the pitfalls of proving allegations that Big Tech companies lock customers into buying products in violation of antitrust laws.

Judge Richard Seeborg of the US District Court for the Northern District of California on Monday dismissed a lawsuit against Google brought by digital advertising business Dream Big Media and other plaintiffs. After purchasing Google’s application programming interfaces to display or use maps on their websites, the plaintiffs claimed they were also forced to buy Google’s Places APIs and Routes APIs, despite their preferences for …