What DOJ’s Landmark Antitrust Case Against Google Could Mean for Consumers…and Big Tech

Google spends more than $10 billion per year to maintain its monopoly control over internet search, a U.S. government lawyer alleged in a Washington, D.C. courtroom on Tuesday. In what is being called the most important antitrust trial in nearly 25 years, the U.S. Department of Justice is accusing Google of harming consumers and stifling competition by cutting deals with smartphone makers to be their default search engine. Google, which controls about 90 percent of the U.S. search engine market, said in court on Tuesday that dissatisfied users can simply switch web browsers “with a few easy clicks.” We’ll preview the rest of the trial and examine what is at stake for tech companies and consumers.

Guests:

Sheelah Kolhatkar, staff writer, The New Yorker - where she writes about Wall Street, Silicon Valley, economics, and politics

Bill Baer, visiting fellow governance studies, Brookings Institution; former director, the Bureau of Competition, Federal Trade Commission; former assistant attorney general, the Antitrust Division, U.S. Department of Justice

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