SAN FRANCISCO: Dozens of US states on Thursday hit Google with its third antitrust suit in as many months, accusing the Internet giant of abusing its Internet search dominance to eliminate competition. The suit by antitrust enforcers from 38 US states and territories is in line with, but goes beyond a case filed by the US Justice Department against Google and its parent firm Alphabet earlier this year.
“Google’s anticompetitive actions have protected its general search monopolies and excluded rivals, depriving consumers of the benefits of competitive choices, forestalling innovation, and undermining new entry or expansion,” said Colorado attorney general Phil Weiser.
Nebraska attorney general Doug Peterson called the antitrust assault on Google “historic,” saying the combined suits represented the biggest alliance since a case against Microsoft decades ago.
The suit came a day after a group of states led by Texas filed a separate antitrust suit, and asks to be consolidated with the federal case against Google.
The Internet giant said the case would end up harming consumers if successful.
Google economic policy director Adam Cohen said in a post that the lawsuit “seeks to redesign search in ways that would deprive Americans of helpful information and hurt businesses’ ability to connect directly with customers.”
Changes sought by the lawsuit would make search results worse for people searching on Google and businesses wanting to be found, according to the Internet giant.
Matt Schruers, president of the Computer and Communications Industry Association, a technology trade group, said the suit was a misguided effort to force Google to redesign its search engine without regard to consumer interests.
“Search design has been benefiting from constant redesign and updates, and regulators in the US and abroad have concluded this has improved consumers’ experience,” he said. — AFP
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