It could be safely labeled as a historic decision if it weren’t for the footnote that says it will probably remain without serious backlash for users. American justice has won the battle against the Alphabet company, a subsidiary of Google, which is responsible for the most popular search engine on the Internet.

The 276-page decision of the Washington court speaks of a monopoly situation, related to the pre-installation of the relevant machine as a factory setting on mobile phones such as iPhones.

This creates a huge advantage over competing companies, since users usually stick to this option and do not change the settings to prioritize another “search engine”.

A multi-billion turnover

Behind a seemingly innocent preset lies a turnover of several billions. It is now known that selling data on user behavior online is a huge market. Google currently controls about 90% of the relevant market. Every search gives us information that is collected, linked, compared and systematized to create user profiles, which Google then resells to businesses, mainly advertising, which can then bombard users with targeted advertising. Only in the second quarter of 2024 the relative turnover of the company reached 64.6 billion dollars. This explains why Google in 2021 paid companies like Apple over 26 billion to pre-install its own search engine on mobiles and laptops.

“It’s not our fault we’re the best”

The company’s argument in court was that its own “search engine” is indisputably the best there is, and for this reason it is preferred by companies that make electronic devices and also by creators of Internet browsers, such as the independent Firefox company, which it largely needs Google’s “sponsorships”. As an argument, they even cited a statement by a top Apple executive that for all the money in the world he would not replace Google’s search engine with another one, such as Microsoft’s Bing. Essentially, the judges also admitted the technical superiority of the relevant application over others, while it is rather unlikely that they will be able to compel technology companies not to install the relevant program.

The illusion of choice

In the EU, for example, users are required, when opening a web browser, to choose a search engine. Most people choose Google again, precisely because they know it and are now used to it. Let’s not forget that the term “google” has been registered as a synonym for “searching for something on the Internet”.

A possible measure, beyond perhaps some fines, but rather of an administrative nature, could be, according to the experts, to order the spin-off of Alphabet from Google. This would not change much in our daily life and certainly would not reduce the turnover of companies from the whole business, which is increasingly technically perfected, expanded and spread into new areas.

The glass user

Our choices, our searches, our questions, our hidden desires are more transparent than ever before. On the internet, all users are now “glass”. Only “Internet and electronic device deniers” can remain invisible to this organized cluster of technology, IT and advertising companies.

However, the American judiciary, faithful to the narrative of the free market, continues to try to limit the action of technology giants such as Meta, Amazon and Apple by legal means and heralds other trials, in a fight that seems increasingly unequal.