US Google antitrust lawsuit ushers in a new era of muscular Big Tech enforcement

MLex Market Insight

It’s hard to overstate the significance of the US government’s lawsuit targeting Google over allegations that its agreements with Apple and Android phonemakers to make the search engine the default on their devices has made it too difficult for search rivals to compete. The court action is the most significant antitrust case to affect Big Tech since the 1998 suit against Microsoft and this week’s news of the enforcement action has reverberated around the world. And while the outcome of the Department of Justice lawsuit is hard to predict, there are those who would argue that by avoiding antitrust action of this kind in the US until now, Google has already won.