Google has been accused of illegally protecting its monopoly over search and advertising. The Justice Department has addressed several services provided by the company, which include “general search services, search advertising and general search text advertising” (Kang et al., 2020, par. 5). According to the suit, one of the ways Google manages to its monopoly power is through its deals with other major companies, which make its search engine the default one. In turn, Google claims that these settings can be easily changed by users.
The suits brought against Microsoft in the late 1990 and Google in 2020 are similar because both of these companies have been accused of hobbling competition in the market. Moreover, the activities of both of them have led to the concentration of the companies’ market shares. It can be argued that the Microsoft case does not provide any particular insight into whether or not the suit against Google will be successful. This is due to the fact that accusations made against Microsoft appeared to be more substantial: the company was making it difficult for its users to install competitive software. At the same time, it was challenging to uninstall Internet Explorer, Microsoft’s main browser. Despite the fact that the company had lost this case, it was “highly critical of the ruling and alleged bias in favor of the prosecution” (Corporate Finance Institute, 2020, par. 7). Due to the unclear outcomes of the Microsoft case, it is difficult to say if the current case against Google will be successful as well.
It can be suggested that the Microsoft suit shows potential impacts to Google that can occur even if the latter wins the case. Thus, to avoid causing similar accusations in the future, the company may reduce the number of deals it makes with other major corporations, such as Apple, Amazon, and Facebook. In addition, the company may be forced to review some of its strategies in order to promote fair competition.
References
Corporate Finance Institute. (2020). Microsoft antitrust case – Overview, charges, verdict. Web.
Kang, C., McCabe, D., & Wakabayashi, D. (2020). The U.S. accuses Google of illegally protecting its monopoly. The New York Times – Breaking News, US News, World News and Videos. Web.