Federal Judge Rules Google Is a Monopolist, Stifles Search Engine Competition
Skift Take
A federal judge ruled Monday that Google used its grip on the general search engine market to raise prices for text ads with virtually no constraint — and that hits online travel companies hard.
"The trial evidence firmly established that Google’s monopoly power, maintained by theexclusive distribution agreements, has enabled Google to increase text ads prices without any meaningful competitive constraint," the ruling stated.
Booking Holdings and Expedia are some of Google's biggest Ads customers in travel, spending billions each year to have their websites prioritized within search results pages.
The ruling was part of an antitrust case that found Google acted illegally to maintain a monopoly in online search and text advertising services.
The 277-page ruling, by Judge Amit Mehta of
