Antitrust Law Violations
Introduction
This paper will discuss the Google case that was presented by Microsoft stating that Google was in violation of antitrust laws. Also, in this paper some of the pecuniary and non-pecuniary costs will be discussed. Given in this paper will also be my thoughts on monopolies and oligopolies.
Antitrust Case
Google was investigated for antitrust behavior because they were claimed to be an “internet bully that abuses its dominance of online search and advertising” (STEINHAUSER & LIEDTKE, 2011, p. 1). Google was doing things like buying smaller companies in search results but then labeling/highlighting their own services instead. Being that Google was knocking out the competition by only showing their results…show more content… When dealing with market structures and considering Google as a monopoly, the characteristics of the monopoly market structure fit. In a sense, Google is being seen as the only producer for internet search, and is trying to make it seem through their practices that they are the only reliable business in the industry. Because of the overwhelming market power Google is gaining through the use of other smaller companies, other businesses such as Microsoft, are beginning to feel that the competition being created is unfair and favored. Especially with Google blocking out their results as the search engine is used.
Antitrust as Investopedia pointed out, “prohibits a variety of practices that restrain trade,” ("Antitrust Definition | Investopedia", n.d.). According to the complaints of Microsoft, Google was in violation of the Sherman Act of 1980. The Sherman Act states that, “public is best served by free competition in trade and industry,” ("Sherman Anti-Trust Act legal definition of Sherman Anti-Trust Act", n.d.). Also, the Sherman Act points out that, “it prohibits monopolies attempts to monopolize, or conspiracies to monopolize.” ("Sherman Anti-Trust Act legal definition of Sherman Anti-Trust Act", n.d). By blocking out their rivals, and not giving them an equal opportunity to display the information related to the searches of the consumers, Microsoft felt this was a violation of the Sherman Act. On another note, after reading the research