United States v. Google LLC (2020)
| United States v. Google LLC | |
|---|---|
| Court | United States District Court for the District of Columbia |
| Full case name | United States, State of Arkansas, State of Florida, State of Georgia, State of Indiana, Commonwealth of Kentucky, State of Louisiana, State of Mississippi, State of Missouri, State of Montana, State of South Carolina and State of Texas v. Google LLC |
| Started | October 20, 2020 |
| Decided | August 5, 2024 |
| Defendant | Google LLC |
| Counsel for plaintiff | Kenneth Dintzer |
| Plaintiff | United States Department of Justice |
| Holding | |
| Google LLC violates Section 2 of the Sherman Act. | |
| Court membership | |
| Judge sitting | Amit P. Mehta |
United States v. Google LLC is an ongoing federal antitrust case brought by the United States Department of Justice (DOJ) against Google LLC, initiated on October 20, 2020. The suit alleges that Google has violated the Sherman Antitrust Act of 1890 by illegally monopolizing the search engine and search advertising markets, most notably on Android devices, as well as with Apple and mobile carriers.
The case was heard starting in September 2023 in the District Court for the District of Columbia with Judge Amit Mehta presiding. Mehta issued a ruling in August 2024, finding that Google held a monopoly on their search engine technology, and illegally used that dominance in securing its position with mobile device and website partners. Google immediately appealed that decision, and commentators expect the dispute to last for several years.
The lawsuit was initially described as a "blockbuster antitrust trial", and has been widely described as one of the most important federal antitrust lawsuit against a high-tech company since the United States v. Microsoft Corp.case in 1998. The outcome of the case will have a potential bearing on the subsequently-filed federal antitrust suits against fellow "Big Tech" companies Meta Platforms, Amazon, and Apple. The DOJ filed a second antitrust lawsuit against Google over the company's advertising market practices in 2023.
In September 2025, Mehta ruled that Google would not be required to divest of Chrome or Android, but would be barred from including search in exclusive contracts and required to share some data with competitors. Various portions of this ruling have been appealed by both the Department of Justice and Google, with the dispute still in progress as of early 2026.