Google is facing a third major antitrust suit in the US, started by 38 states led by the Colorado attorney general. Similar to the case filed by the federal Department of Justice in October, the states allege Google illegally maintains its monopoly in the search market through anti-competitive practices, harming both consumers and advertisers. The suit adds the additional charge of 'search bias', accusing Google of favouring its own services in search results.
The suit was filed in the US District Court for the District of Columbia in Washington, along with a motion to combine it with the DoJ case. The Colorado attorney general Phil Weiser said the states' case goes further, accusing Google of engaging in a "multi-pronged effort to maintain its monopolities".
Similar to the DoJ, the case focuses on Google's distribution agreements and claims these help entrench its position and exclude rivals from the market. The attorneys claim Google is moving into new platforms to expand its hold on the market, such as home smart speakers, TVs and cars. In addition, it uses its Search Advertising 360 tool to deny interoperability with competing search ad features.
The suit also looks at Google's alleged self-preferencing in search rankings, a practice that earned the company a fine of EUR 2.4 billion in the EU in 2017. An appeal of that case was heard early this year. The states claim the company harms consumers as they are not provided access to specialized search results from comparison portals in important segments such as travel, home improvement and entertainment. This also contributes to Google's "vast amounts of data" collected on consumers, further strengthening its monopoly and limiting competition.
The coalition of states want the court to impose damages and order changes to Google’s practices. This may include a decision to "unwind any advantages that Google gained as a result of its anticompetitive conduct", including possible asset divestments.
In a response to the suit posted on Google's blog, the company's economic policy director Adam Cohen defended the company's search services, saying they respond to consumer needs. He highlighted the improvements to Google search over the years and how this brings customers into direct contact with local information and businesses. The lawsuit would force changes to the design of Google Search, "requiring us to prominently feature online middlemen in place of direct connections to businesses" Cohen said. This would harm consumers as well as the businesses that benefit from direct results on Google, he added.
Further, the suit's claims have already been examined and rejected by other regulators and courts, Google said, including the FTC, competition authorities in Brazil, Canada and Taiwan, and courts in the UK and Germany. The company linked to a FTC investigation that examined whether Google favours its own services over competitors on the search platform. The decision from 2013 was that Google did not design the service with its own 'search bias', and rather the display of its own content could be considered an improvement of the search results.
Google previously refuted the other claims over its distribution agreements following the filing of the DoJ suit. The company said it looked forward to defending its position in court.
