Proactive Investors - More than $90 billion was wiped from Google owner Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) Inc (NASDAQ:GOOG) after the search giant lost a landmark competition case after a US federal judge ruled that huge sums were spent on exclusive deals to maintain an illegal monopoly on search.
Judge Amit Mehta handed down a 286-page decision that labelled the Silicon Valley giant a "monopolist," citing violations of US antitrust law, marking a significant win for the Department of Justice.
At trial the DoJ argued Google paid over $26 billion annually for anti-competitive agreements with companies including Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL), ensuring Google remained the default search engine. These practices contributed to Google handling over 90% of online queries.
US Attorney General Merrick Garland hailed the decision as a historic victory, emphasising no company is above the law. Jonathan Kanter, head of the DoJ's antitrust division, stated the ruling paves the way for innovation and protects information access.
Google said it plans to appeal. Alphabet shares fell almost 5%.