In a “blockbuster” ruling published Monday, US Judge Amit Mehta stated it clearly enough: “Google is a monopolist, and it has acted as one to maintain its monopoly.”
As most media outlets have reported, it is the most significant victory for the antitrust hawks since Microsoft Corp. lost its famous case in the 1990s. That one was about access to web browsers. The Google case was about access to search engines. What they both share in common is a question around the competitive benefit of being the default option presented to users. The court ruled that Google’s payment of billions of dollars for the privilege was illegal.