US vs Google antitrust case: 10 top takeaways from 64 page complaint (2nd Ld)

By Nikhila Natarajan New York, Oct 21 : In a 64 page complaint with 194 numbered items, the US Justice Department and 11 states sued Google Tuesday for antitrust violations, alleging that it weaponised its dominance in online search and advertising to kill off competition and harm consumers.
Google’s response, via tweet, points to the fierce opposition it plans to serve up: “Today’s lawsuit by the Department of Justice is deeply flawed. People use Google because they choose to — not because they’re forced to or because they can’t find alternatives.” The lawsuit marks the US government’s biggest move since its case against Microsoft more than 20 years ago. This comes after 15 months of investigation and could be the opening scene of more antitrust actions against other Big Tech companies.
Here, IANS extracts 10 key takeaways from the Justice Department’s case against a company that now controls about 90 per cent of global web searches. From how it began to where it is now, these excerpts sum up the short history of the rise and rise of a wildly successful online empire.
The last 20 years: “Two decades ago, Google became the darling of Silicon Valley as a scrappy startup with an innovative way to search the emerging Internet. That Google is long gone.” The Google of today: “A monopoly gatekeeper for the Internet, and one of the wealthiest companies on the planet, with a market value of $1 trillion and annual revenue exceeding $160 billion. 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.”