Google claims it does not block competitors in its bid to end a US government antitrust lawsuit

Alphabet, the parent company of Google, argued in court on Wednesday that a government antitrust lawsuit against it should be dismissed, claiming that agreements it made with Apple and others to make Google the default search engine do not prevent smartphone makers from promoting rivals. The statements, which were revealed in a redacted version of a motion filed last month asking the judge to dismiss the lawsuit, foreshadow the tech giant’s arguments in a high-stakes court case set to go to trial in September. If Google loses, it may be forced to spin off important assets.

Google asked Judge Amit Mehta of the United States District Court for the District of Columbia in December to dismiss both the antitrust case filed by the Justice Department and 11 states in 2020 and a related complaint filed by 35 states led by Colorado.

The Trump administration’s lawsuit, filed by the Justice Department, claimed that Google violated antitrust law by maintaining its dominance in search and search advertising. It cited, for example, billions of dollars paid annually by Google to Apple, LG Electronics Inc, and others to ensure that Google search was the default on their devices.

Google argued in its 51-page filing that Mehta should dismiss the Justice Department case partly because the company’s agreements with Apple and others allow it to promote rivals such as Microsoft’s Bing search engine.

The company also claimed that its search engine was popular with browsers and consumers solely because of its quality and that it was unconstitutional for the government to require Google to refrain from competing for the position of default search engine on smartphones.

“Requiring Google not to compete aggressively — or requiring browser developers to change their product designs and provide a worse experience for their customers — would turn competition law on its head,” the company stated in the filing.

The company also claimed that there was no evidence that Google’s agreements regarding Google Assistant or Internet-of-Things devices harmed competition.

Google is facing additional antitrust allegations from dozens of states. The lawsuit, also filed in 2020 by Colorado and others, alleges that Google illegally restricts rivals’ ability to use its Search Ads 360 tool, which advertisers use to manage online marketing campaigns. It also claims that Google violated antitrust laws in order to impede competitors such as travel-related websites.