In Google DOJ antitrust case, court rules against exclusive distribution agreements

Court issues ruling in Google antitrust case

Aug 5, 2024

On Monday, the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia issued its ruling in the Department of Justice (DOJ) antitrust case against Google search. The court found that Google’s exclusive distribution agreements contributed to Google’s maintenance of its monopoly power in general search and search text advertising. However,  the court found that Google does not have a monopoly in search advertising nor does it owe feature parity obligations to Microsoft in its SA360 ad management platform. 

“The biggest winner from today’s ruling isn’t consumers or little tech, it’s Microsoft,” said Chamber of Progress CEO Adam Kovacevich. “Microsoft has underinvested in search for decades, but today’s ruling opens the door to a court mandate of default deals for Bing. That’s a slap in the face to consumers who chose Google because they think it’s the best.”

Remedies will be decided in a separate proceeding, likely after an appeal of today’s ruling.

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