October 24 2020: The (US)  Justice Department’s lawsuit against Google alleging antitrust violations marks the government’s most significant attempt to protect competition since its groundbreaking case against Microsoft more than 20 years ago.
We bring you the original legal filing as well as some background on this significant legal challenge to the  mosty powerful infotech entity in the world.
Justice Department Sues Monopolist Google For Violating Antitrust Laws  (The original complaint  filed)
San Jose Mercury News ( AP report) : 5 takeaways from the government’s lawsuit against Google
The lawsuit claims Google has abused its dominance in online search and advertising to stifle competition and harm consumers.
The Department (called ) Google a “monopoly gatekeeper for the internet” that has used “anticompetitive tactics” to maintain and extend monopolies in both search and search ads. The lawsuit alleges that Google stifled competition and innovation from smaller upstarts and harmed consumers by reducing the quality and variety of search options — and that the company also uses its monopoly money to lock in its favorable position on smartphones and in browsers.
CNN: Google's defense against antitrust lawsuit? You
In its two decades, Google has amassed a dizzying amount of power, building a search and advertising behemoth that many critics believe is an illegal monopoly. But the fact you get most of Google's services for free, and that many people seem to prefer them over alternatives, could -— Google hopes — save it from a landmark federal lawsuit challenging that alleged monopoly.Google's claim that it's benefited billions of consumers is quickly emerging as a pillar of the company's strategy for defending itself from the suit, which the Department of Justice filed Tuesday. That position takes advantage of a shift in how US law treats antitrust cases. Enormous companies like the Rockefellers' Standard Oil and "Ma Bell"-era AT&T (T) once got broken up because they were deemed harmful to competition. Now they're spared that if the government can't prove they're harming consumers — by, for example, fixing or raising prices.Should Google's benefits to consumers cancel out any alleged abuses of its economic might? That's where the company and the US government may inevitably clash in court.