The DOJ is challenging the legality of Google’s success.

The US Department of Justice has filed an antitrust suit against Google in an effort to break up the company’s illegal monopoly over search and advertising. For many, Google is a crucial aspect of modern life, but whether or not it gained its ubiquity by legal means remains to be seen.

In a lengthy complaint alongside the suit, the Department of Justice has laid out how, “For many years, Google has used anti-competitive tactics to maintain and extend its monopolies in the markets for general search services, search advertising, and general search text advertising—the cornerstones of its empire.” 

Competition is essential to the free market, and succeeding at it is not a crime. What the Department of Justice claims is a crime are the deals Google has made with electronics producers like Apple and Android to make sure their search engine is the default in new products. Google pays between eight and twelve billion dollars to Apple to be the default search engine in their products. With Google’s search engine already built-in to new phones, one can see the difficulty smaller search companies may have in promoting their product.

Google has claimed that its alleged monopoly is legitimate. In response to the suit, Kent Walker, Google’s chief legal officer has said in a blog post that, “People use Google because they chose to, not because they’re forced to, or because they can’t find alternatives.” 

How far the suit will get remains uncertain, but the New York Times has commented that the current political climate is much more hostile to big tech companies than it was in similar cases, with officials from both parties eager to limit the power of large corporations. If successful, the suit could be a boon for small search engine companies and loosen Google’s hold on the lives of consumers ever so slightly.