Judge Orders Google to Face Consumer Antitrust Lawsuit Over Search

Core Viewpoint - A federal judge in California has allowed a consumer antitrust lawsuit against Google to proceed, maintaining legal scrutiny on Google's default-search payment practices that influence traffic and advertising in the digital economy [1][2]. Group 1: Legal Proceedings - U.S. District Judge Rita F. Lin declined to dismiss the core federal claims in a proposed class action brought by consumers, while trimming part of the case related to timing [2]. - The judge stated that four consumers have plausibly alleged that Google unlawfully foreclosed competition in U.S. general search services through exclusive agreements with mobile device manufacturers, sellers, and browser developers [3]. Group 2: Allegations and Claims - The complaint heavily relies on findings from the Justice Department's 2024 search case, detailing contracts that establish Google as the default search engine on major platforms like Apple devices and browsers such as Safari and Firefox [4]. - The lawsuit claims monopolization under Section 2 of the Sherman Act, alongside allegations under California's Unfair Competition Law and unjust enrichment related to Google's use of user search data [5]. Group 3: Court's Findings - The court found that consumers adequately alleged antitrust injury, rejecting Google's argument that rival search engines would not pay users or reduce ads significantly [5]. - The judge dismissed Google's claim that damages would be too complex to measure, emphasizing that complicated damages calculations do not exempt monopolistic behavior from legal scrutiny [6]. Group 4: Broader Context - The lawsuit is part of a larger context involving the Justice Department's ongoing search-monopoly case against Google, which has implications for the digital economy and could lead to changes in default-search distribution practices and data-sharing requirements [7].