Does Google Compete In Search With General Motors, Yelp, Amazon And Even The DC Federal Court — Defense Expert In AntiTrust Case Testifies

In the ongoing antitrust trial, an economist’s testimony has stated that Alphabet Inc.’s GOOG GOOGL Google faces competition for online search queries from a range of online entities beyond just common search engines.

What Happened: Mark Israel, an economist with FTI Consulting Inc. asserted in his testimony that Google’s competition extends to Amazon.com Inc. AMZN, Expedia Group Inc. EXPE, and Yelp Inc. YELP, as well as others including General Motors Co. GM, Mustang parts retailer CJ Pony Parts, and even the DC federal court, Bloomberg reported.

According to Israel, the Justice Department’s comparison of Google to other general search engines, such as Microsoft Corporation’s MSFT Bing and DuckDuckGo, is flawed as Google’s competition varies based on the nature of the user’s query. 

For shopping queries, Amazon is a competitor; for travel, it’s Expedia; and for local information, Yelp is considered competition.

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These claims surface amid allegations by the Justice Department that Google has unlawfully maintained dominance over the search engine and advertising market. 

Google, with almost 90% control of online queries, has been accused of breaching antitrust laws by doling out up to $26 billion in 2021 to uphold its search monopoly.

Israel, however, refutes these allegations, arguing that Google and Amazon are competing for queries rather than product shopping. 

The Justice Department countered by questioning the credibility of Israel’s testimony, citing a previous case where a judge dismissed Israel’s opinions, saying they “demonstrated misunderstanding and misapplication of antitrust concepts.”

Why It Matters: Previously, Google’s CEO, Sundar Pichai, defended these billion-dollar payouts to Apple and other tech firms, arguing that it was to provide a seamless user experience.

Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella also testified during the trial that his company was open to obscuring its search engine’s brand on Apple devices to unseat Google from its default search engine status. 

Earlier, it was also reported that Apple declined Microsoft’s offer to purchase Bing around 2020. 

This latest defense testimony, therefore, adds a new perspective to Google’s argument, suggesting that its competition isn’t merely limited to traditional search engines.

Photo via Shutterstock

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