Attorney General Bonta Issues Statement Following Conclusion of Historic Antitrust Trial Against Google

Court set closing arguments for May 1-3, 2024, and verdict is expected next year

OAKLAND — California Attorney General Rob Bonta today issued a statement following the conclusion of the 10-week bench trial in United States v. Google, an antitrust case regarding Google's monopoly on general internet search services and search-based advertising: 

"Yesterday, the historic antitrust trial against Google came to an end. My office proudly joined the U.S. Department of Justice in seeking to hold accountable the Mountain View-based company, and I continue to feel confident in the strength of our case," said Attorney General Bonta. "With nearly 90% of searches relying on Google, this Google search case is relevant to almost everyone in country. Among the many revelations that came to light at trial was that Google pays other companies billions of dollars each year to ensure that it is the default search engine for iPhones, Android phones, and most third-party web browsers, such as Mozilla’s Firefox. In 2021 alone, Google paid a whopping $26.3 billion to maintain this monopoly. The California Department of Justice has two additional antitrust cases pending against Google, and we will do everything in our power to protect competition in the marketplace."

BACKGROUND 

On December 11, 2020, then-Attorney General Xavier Becerra announced that California would be joining the U.S. Department of Justice’s lawsuit against Google regarding its monopoly on general internet search services and search-based advertising. This ten-week bench trial in Washington, D.C. began on September 12, 2023 and concluded yesterday. The U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia set closing arguments for May 1-3, 2024. A verdict is expected next year.  

Further, on July 7, 2021, Attorney General Bonta announced a multistate lawsuit against Google for monopolizing the smartphone application market through its Google Play Store in violation of state and federal antitrust laws. This case has a tentative settlement joined by 53 attorneys general. As requested by the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California in San Francisco, the settlement will be presented to the court after the jury trial in a related case, Epic v. Google, concludes.

Finally, on January 24, 2023, Attorney General Bonta joined the U.S. Department of Justice and eight original states in filing a lawsuit against Google charging the company with operating an unfair monopoly scheme in markets for advertising technology. Seventeen states have now joined this case, which is pending in the rocket docket in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia.