Google Sued by States for Abuse of Search-Market Dominance

A bipartisan coalition of states sued Alphabet's Google Thursday alleging broad antitrust violations in the online search market, marking the third U.S. case against the search giant in two months. From a report: The lawsuit, led by Colorado, Iowa and other states, marks the latest escalation of the antitrust battle against Google. It comes a day after 10 Republican state attorneys general led by Texas sued the company for anticompetitive practices, and follows an October complaint by the Justice Department. "Combined with the other recent lawsuits filed against Google, never before have so many states and the federal government come together to challenge a company with such power," Iowa Attorney General Tom Miller said a statement. "Google has more data on consumers, and more variety of information, than perhaps any entity in history." The lawsuit, filed by 38 attorneys general, accuses Google of illegally monopolizing internet search and search advertising through a series of anticompetitive contracts and conduct, hurting consumers and advertisers in the process.

I'm all for Google doing a good job...

[carcomp]

I am happy it returns the stackoverflow articles and other crap I need for my job... but if you try to Google ANYTHING controversial, "hateful" or just trying to find others with like minded views (regardless of public opinions), Google is there to tell you how wrong you are... try it ... Do a Google search for "I hate ...." and replace the .... with any oppressed group. You will find a million answers showing you are wrong and a bad person. Is this good? Is it biased? I should at the minimum find one or t

Re:

[Actually, I do RTFA]

, Google is there to tell you how wrong you are/blockquote>

Oh, does Google's free speech make your little hate seeking heart sad? [Plays violin]

Also, how do you find anything useful on stack overflow?

Re:

[sinij]

Not only that. Google actively suppressed search results related to elections. For example, searching for Hunter Biden laptop story, that we now know is being criminally investigate by FBI, the New York Post story that broke it was nowhere to be found. The blackholed it in a very visible way. Using other search providers and it was first few links.

Re:

[olsmeister]

https://news.google.com/search... [google.com]

Re:

[fustakrakich]

Speech is free in America.

Not anymore [youtu.be]

They're really hitting big tech hard now.

[nightflameauto]

Google has more data on consumers, and more variety of information, than perhaps any entity in history.

It's possible that Facebook has more, though the statement isn't incorrect.

I'd guess some of these big tech companies are going to have some serious regulation and oversight, or be broken up outright in the next few years. The constant barrage of legal proceedings on these companies lately is pointing towards something brewing on the horizon.

Google's good at what they do, don't ruin it

[foxalopex]

The thing is Google search works quite well for me for the most part. Government stepping in might mess it up more than even competitors which is the main thing I'm worried about. Think about Youtube before they got hammered in DMCA lawsuits and how now it's turned into a takedown nightmare for some.

Re:

[martynhare]

Did you? Google has the same free speech right to censor things that you and I have. To limit said right would come in the form of regulation.

Search market?

[nospam007]

A market is a place where people pay for stuff, Google is free, it ain't no market.

If you want to make restrictions for the Ad firms that actually ARE Google's customers, I'm all for it.

Re:

[tflf]

A market is a place where people pay for stuff, Google is free, it ain't no market.

If you want to make restrictions for the Ad firms that actually ARE Google's customers, I'm all for it.

Just because you are not handing over cash does not make Google "free". Google is a market, and you pay every time you use it. Users all pay by though the monetization of their internet searches, and other personal data.

In a traditional market, the value of raw materials, and finished goods, are concrete, and known by suppliers and manufacturers. The value of our payments to Google are hidden, and vague. It's an insidious form of commerce, neither open nor transparent. The suppliers have little idea what v