DOJ Google Antitrust Case Wraps With Apple Deal on Center Stage

tech.hindustantimes.com:

Google pays as much as $10 billion per year to ensure that users access the internet through its search engine — payments that have blocked startups and fellow tech giants Apple Inc. and Microsoft Corp. from competing, according to the US Justice Department.

This week, federal enforcers will rest their antitrust case against Alphabet Inc.'s search engine, the biggest tech monopoly case since Microsoft in the 1990s. The move marks the halfway point in the 10-week trial, after which Google gets to present a defense against the allegations and perhaps explain why it pays rivals to use the search technology it argues is simply superior.

Judge Amit Mehta isn't expected to issue a decision until next year, though any resolution to the case is expected to drag out for years with appeals and a possible second trial to establish a remedy if the Justice Department wins.

High-profile tech executives from Microsoft's Chief Executive Officer Satya Nadella to Apple's top dealmaker Eddy Cue have taken the stand as the Justice Department has sought to prove Google illegally maintains its monopoly over online search and the rich advertising stream that accompanies it. Google's own CEO, Sundar Pichai, is expected to testify in the coming weeks.

Over the past five weeks, Mehta has heard dozens of analogies about the search giant and its place in modern life for consumers and the companies trying to reach them. Google is a door or a gateway. It's the only ferry to the island. It's a card catalog to the infinite library that is the internet.

The Justice Department alleges the company has used its prime position to extract more and more money from advertisers – often by making opaque changes to the rules that control the ad auctions in which