By Brendan Clementz

The Department of Justice is scheduled to go to trial against Google soon over claims that Google has engaged in unfair business practices and monopolizing.

The DOJ’s initial complaint was filed October 20, 2020. Not until January of this year were charges put out against Google officially, and almost three years later the department is going to start the court proceedings. 

“Twenty-five years ago, the Department of Justice sued Microsoft, paving the way for a new wave of innovative tech companies – including Google,” said Attorney General William Barr in a statement released when the accusations were first levied. “Unfortunately, once Google itself gained dominance, it resorted to the same anticompetitive playbook.”

The anticompetitive strategies in question are the monopolization of tools necessary to sell ads, which allows them to force companies into using their products and eliminates competition. 

The stakes are high for this case. Not only could it mean a loss of billions of dollars on Google’s end, but it also will set a pivotal precedent for the handling of these cases in the future. “If we let Google continue its anticompetitive ways, we will lose the next wave of innovators and Americans may never get to benefit from the ‘next Google,’” Barr said.