Google illegally maintains monopoly over internet search, US judge rules

The decision was issued by US District Judge Amit Mehta against Google in the country’s biggest antitrust showdown.

Google search engine has been illegally exploiting its dominance to cut down competition and stifle innovation, a judge ruled in a decision that could change the internet and bring changes in one of the world's biggest companies. The decision was issued by US District Judge Amit Mehta in a trial that marks the country's biggest antitrust showdown. Here's everything you need to know about the trial and and what the judge ruled:

A US judge handed Google a major legal blow, ruling in a closely-watched anti-trust case that it has a monopoly with its dominant search engine.(AFP)

1. The evidence included testimony from top executives at Google, Microsoft and Apple and lasted 10 weeks.

2. Judge Amit Mehta said in the 277-page ruling, “After having carefully considered and weighed the witness testimony and evidence, the court reaches the following conclusion: Google is a monopolist, and it has acted as one to maintain its monopoly."

3. Google “enjoys an 89.2% share of the market for general search services, which increases to 94.9% on mobile devices,” the ruling noted.

4. The ruling is a major setback for Google which has said that it is popular among consumers as they wish to use the search engine. Google's search engine processes an estimated 8.5 billion queries per day worldwide, nearly a double from 12 years ago.

5. Kent Walker, Google’s president of global affairs, said, “This decision recognizes that Google offers the best search engine, but concludes that we shouldn’t be allowed to make it easily available."

6. US Attorney General Merrick Garland called the ruling “a historic win for the American people” and said that "no company - no matter how large or influential - is above the law."

7. White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said the "pro-competition ruling is a victory for the American people. Americans deserve an internet that is free, fair, and open for competition."