We've heard about a possible antitrust lawsuit against Google for some time. Now, it looks like that lawsuit is finally going to happen, as The Wall Street Journal has confirmed that the US Justice Department and 11 US states are filing an antitrust lawsuit against Google.

US Department of Justice Antitrust Lawsuit

The US Department of Justice spoke on a call this morning regarding the lawsuit, and it sounds quite confident in its stance that Google is violating antitrust laws with its search practices. On the call, Ryan Shores, the Justice Department’s senior advisor for tech industries, said the following:

Google’s conduct is illegal under traditional antitrust principles and must be stopped... Google owns or controls search distribution channels accounting for about 80 percent of general search queries in the United States. We’re asking the court to break Google’s grip on search distribution so that competition and innovation can take hold.

If you want to read the entire lawsuit (it's 57 pages long), you can check out this Scribd link (H/T The Verge). There's a lot to absorb, and we're certainly not lawyers, but it does seem that the Justice Department has built a detailed case against Google.

Apparently, the Justice Department met with Google to discuss steps that could be taken to resolve the alleged anti-competitive behaviors, but it didn't disclose the details. Based on the suit's filing, it looks like the two sides couldn't reach an agreement.

Google released a statement on The Keyword regarding the lawsuit, and as you might expect, the firm disagrees that its practices violate antitrust laws.

The company's thoughts on the matter are summed up quite well with this single quote:

Today’s lawsuit by the Department of Justice is deeply flawed. People use Google because they choose to — not because they’re forced to or because they can’t find alternatives.

The suit's general crux is that Google has a web of exclusive agreements with various companies, such as Apple. Google spends billions to maintain its place as the default search engine on various platforms, iOS included.

This is a continually developing situation, and it will definitely be interesting to see what the result is. The suit is focused on Google's search practices and not other aspects of its business, so its advertising business shouldn't change, at least for now.

It's still early in the process, and more details are sure to come out as the suit moves forward.

Other Major Technology Lawsuits

This is far from the first major lawsuit in the tech world, and it definitely won't be the last. With that said, it could be one of the largest antitrust lawsuits brought forth against a technology company, and it's certainly bigger than previous suits brought against Google for similar matters.

Only time will tell whether this has a profound effect on Google's business practices. Will the firm be forced to change some of its practices regarding search to escape the wrath of the DoJ?