The complaint filed on Thursday focuses on Google's search
business and search advertising, as well as what they said was an effort by
Google to use special agreements to also dominate newer techs
Google faced its
third major lawsuit in two months on Thursday as 38 US
states and territories accused the $1 trillion company of abusing its
market power to try to make its search engine as dominant inside cars, TVs and
speakers as it is in phones.
The lawsuit against
the company's parent Alphabet Inc follows years of complaints that it and other
big tech firms including Facebook and Amazon use their massive market power to
smite competitors in pursuit of profits.
The states asked
the court to find Google
guilty of breaking antitrust law and to order an end to any agreements or other
behavior that it finds to be exclusionary. It raised the possibility of
requiring asset sales but did not go into detail.
The states did not
ask for monetary relief, said Nebraska Attorney General Doug Peterson.
"Fines are
like kicking gorillas in the shin. We fortunately have remedies that are much
broader in scope," he said.
In its response to
the lawsuit, Google reiterated its view that competition in search was tough,
saying its rivals included TripAdvisor and Expedia and that any changes it made
had been to benefit consumers.
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