The US Department of Justice has now filed the long-awaited antitrust lawsuit against Google. The ministry is taking action against Google’s dominance in the search engine market.

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In the application, the Ministry of Justice accuses Google of abusing its dominance in the field of online search, suppressing competition and thereby the Having harmed consumers.

The US government has been investigating Google’s practices since June. In addition to the advertising business, it is also about web search and Android. At first it was speculated that the Ministry of Justice wanted to sue last summer. Observers give the proceedings a similar status as the antitrust lawsuit against Microsoft, which ended 2001.

Update 20. 10. 20, 16. 33 : Google comments on a Twitter account that the Justice Department’s complaint is “deeply flawed”. People used Google because they chose, not because they were forced to, or because they couldn’t find alternatives. A longer explanation will follow.

Update 20. 10. 20, 17. 15 : Eleven states have joined the US Department of Justice’s lawsuit. The twelve plaintiffs are demanding – including “structural” – measures from the court so that the competitive conditions are improved.

“Two decades ago, Google as a startup was a favorite of Silicon Valley with an innovative method for searching in the emerging Internet, “says the application. “That was a long time ago. Today’s Google is a monopoly gatekeeper for the Internet and one of the richest companies in the world, with a market value of $ 1 trillion and annual sales of over 160 Billions of dollars. ” For many years, Google has used anti-competitive tactics to maintain and expand its monopoly in the markets for general search services, search engine advertising and general search text advertising – the “cornerstones of its realm”.

Billions to Mozilla, T-Mobile, Apple and others Google got through foreclosure agreements and other mechanisms on the The plaintiffs claim that the market for general search services and advertising in search engines on the desktop and on mobile devices has achieved a monopoly. Competitors couldn’t have reached the size to compete effectively with Google. Every year, Google pays billions of dollars to manufacturers like Apple, LG, Motorola and Samsung, to cell phone operators like T-Mobile, AT&T and Verizon, and to web browser manufacturers like Mozilla and Opera to be set as the standard for general search. In doing so, Google agreed “in many cases” to exclude competitors.

By restricting competition, Google harmed consumers because the quality of the search services – with the plaintiffs protecting data protection and the use of consumer data include – and choice has been reduced and innovation hindered. Advertisers were also harmed because by suppressing the competition, Google was better able to manipulate the number of ads and prices at their own expense. According to the plaintiffs, competition was also impaired by preventing the diffusion of competing innovative apps on the search market.

Who can be found wants, has to pay In addition, Google has gained extraordinary power at the “gateway to the Internet”, advertises its own web content and ste