Alphabet Loses Antitrust Suit Over Google Search Dominance: Report

A federal judge has ruled against Alphabet Inc GOOG GOOGL in an antitrust lawsuit related to the company’s Search dominance.

What Happened: According to a Bloomberg report, Judge Amit Mehta ruled on Monday that Alphabet’s payments to make its search engine the default option on smartphone web browsers violates U.S. antitrust law by effectively blocking competition in the space.

Antitrust regulators alleged the Google parent company has maintained a monopoly on online search and related advertising through $26 billion in payments to Apple Inc AAPL, Samsung Electronics Co and other smartphone makers over multiple decades for prime positioning on browsers and mobile devices.

The report indicates that Google’s deals with various smartphone companies have allowed it to build the most-used search engine in the world with more than $300 billion in annual revenue. This case is reportedly the first antitrust trial in more than two decades that has pitted the federal government against a U.S. technology company.

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GOOG Price Action: Alphabet shares were down 4.58% at $160.72 Monday afternoon as broader market weakness drove several names lower, according to Benzinga Pro.

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