Missourians have never been afraid of the tough, important fights & neither am I. That’s why we’ve filed suit in one of the most significant antitrust actions ever brought.

I’m committed to holding even the biggest of #BigTech companies accountable. https://www.wsj.com/articles/justice-department-to-file-long-awaited-antitrust-suit-against-google-11603195203

Today, I — along with DOJ & other state AGs — filed a civil antitrust lawsuit in the U.S. District Court in DC to prevent Google from unlawfully maintaining monopolies through anticompetitive and exclusionary practices in the search &search advertising markets.

Google, through its monopoly on search functions, controls a huge amount of the information that Americans access every single day. This kind of concentration of power is alarming. It’s critical #BigTech companies, including Google, are acting responsibly, & held accountable.

Google is the monopoly gatekeeper to the internet for billions of users & countless advertisers worldwide. For years, Google’s accounted for almost 90% of search queries in the US & has used anticompetitive tactics to maintain & extend its monopolies in search/search advertising.

Google has entered into a series of exclusionary agreements to lock up the primary avenues through which users access search engines, & thus the internet, by requiring that Google be set as the default or exclusive search engine on billions of mobile devices & computers worldwide

In particular, the Complaint alleges that Google has unlawfully maintained monopolies in search and search advertising by:

Entering into exclusivity agreements that forbid preinstallation of any competing search service.

Entering into tying and other arrangements that force preinstallation of its search applications in prime locations on mobile devices and make them undeletable, regardless of consumer preference.   #BigTech

Entering into long-term agreements with Apple that require Google to be the default – and de facto exclusive – general search engine on Apple’s popular Safari browser and other Apple search tools.

Generally using monopoly profits to buy preferential treatment for its search engine on devices, web browsers, and other search access points, creating a continuous and self-reinforcing cycle of monopolization.

These and other anticompetitive practices harm competition and consumers, reducing the ability of innovative new companies to develop, compete, and discipline Google’s behavior.   #Google

The antitrust laws protect our free market economy & forbid monopolists from engaging in anticompetitive practices. They also empower the Attorney General as parens patriae on behalf of Missouri citizens to bring cases like this one to remedy violations & restore competition.

Decades ago DOJ’s & a state AG coalition’s case against Microsoft recognized antitrust laws forbid anticompetitive agreements by high-technology monopolists to require preinstalled default status, to shut off distribution channels to rivals, & to make software undeletable.

The Complaint alleges that Google is using similar agreements itself to maintain and extend its own dominance.      

The Complaint alleges that Google’s anticompetitive practices have had harmful effects on competition and consumers. #bigtech

#Google has foreclosed any meaningful search competitor from gaining vital distribution and scale, eliminating competition for a majority of search queries in the United States.

By restricting competition in search, Google’s conduct has harmed consumers by reducing the quality of search (including on dimensions such as privacy, data protection, and use of consumer data), lessening choice in search, and impeding innovation.

By suppressing competition in advertising, Google has the power to charge advertisers more than it could in a competitive market and to reduce the quality of the services it provides them.

Through filing the lawsuit, Missouri seeks to stop Google’s anticompetitive conduct and restore competition for American consumers, advertisers, and all companies now reliant on the internet economy. #bigtech

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