More from US v. Google: all the news from the search antitrust showdown
The government’s argument: Nobody uses Bing because Google made it impossible. Google’s argument so far: nobody uses Bing because Bing sucks. Google’s attorneys are making the case that Microsoft is as well-resourced as anyone to compete, and yet even Windows users mostly pick Google because Google is simply better.
No matter who wins this trial, this is going to be a tough 10 weeks of testimony for Bing.
The big-picture “is Google crushing all possible search competitors” question will dominate US v. Google, but there’s another allegation in here as well: whether Google prevented Microsoft from getting access to SA360, Google’s search marketing tool. The state attorneys are deep in that argument now, arguing that it’s yet another way Google manipulates the search market for its own gain.
Google opening up its tools to its competitor? “It’s like waiting for a Yankee fan to invite you to a Met game,” the attorney said. “Not gonna happen.”
One key question of the US v. Google trial — and any antitrust trial, really — is the size of the market. Google will argue that everything from ChatGPT to TikTok is a real threat in the space, and competition is everywhere. The government is going to try and argue, as attorney Kenneth Dintzer already has, that the market is “general search,” and that that’s really only Google and Bing. Which means it’s really only Google.
Judge Mehta is already poking at this argument, though — it sounds like he’s not convinced that “general search” is a wholly unique thing. This is going to be important.
Opening arguments are underway! Some folks are in the courtroom, where there are no electronics allowed, because this is a trial about the internet and technology, so, sure. The rest of us are listening through an AT&T conferencing line, which feels very fitting for a modern antitrust trial.
Two interesting things already: Judge Amit Mehta asked when Google became a monopoly, and government attorney Kenneth Dintzer said that Google has been illegally maintaining its monopoly since 2010. (Meaning it has been a monopoly even longer.) And Dintzer said in response to another question that he believes fully half of Google searches come through a paid-for spot in a search bar.
If you want a one-sentence summary of Google’s arguments ahead of the start of US v. Google today, that one — from Kent Walker, the company’s president of global affairs — does the job pretty well. This issue of Platformer from a few days ago does a good job of running down both sides of the story we’re going to hear over the next 10 weeks. Is Google great, or is it just unavoidable? We’ll find out.
[Platformer]
Google is facing a threat to its core business as it turns 25. This is how it starts.
