Author: Gabriel Okner, Graphics: Danielle Hwang
The BRB Bottomline: As the courtroom drama of United States v. Google LLC reaches its grand finale, the investing and tech communities are perched at the edge of their seats awaiting a ruling that could not only redefine investment in tech but also the very way we live our lives. The U.S. Department of Justice alleges Google employs anticompetitive practices to maintain its dominance in the search engine and online advertising sectors. Learn about the details of the DOJ’s case against the tech giant and how possible outcomes can affect the investment landscape and tech regulations in the near future.
Understanding Google’s Recent Legal Controversies
In an age where “I don’t know, just Google it” has become the default answer to even the most elementary questions, the very idea of a society void of the iconic red and yellow search engine has become practically inconceivable. As a matter of fact, the transformation of “Google” from a mere brand name into 2002’s most useful verb of the year not only highlights perhaps the greatest branding of the 21st century but also depicts the chokehold the company has on the search engine market.
Figure 1: Search Engine Market Share as of January 2024 from Statcounter GlobalStats
While Google does attribute its 91.47% market share to superior search results, the US Department of Justice alleges that there’s something more sinister at play. Since the 12th of September, federal prosecutors, spearheaded by veteran attorney Kenneth Dintzer, have worked tirelessly to unravel an intricate web of anticompetitive practices, asserting Google broke the law to maintain and magnify its monopoly in online search and advertising markets. Aside from citing multi-billion dollar default browser deals, Dintzer’s opening argument featured testimony from Antonio Rangel, a CalTech economist, that described Google’s extensive efforts to discourage users from straying from their default search engine. These efforts include implementing extensive, multistep processes to initiate a browser change and deeply integrating Google products and services into the search experience. With such barriers of entry in place, Dintzer’s argument ultimately revolves around a mission to open up the market to competition and limit Google’s ability to suppress competitors.
As United States v. Google LLC nears its final days, the investing world is bracing for shockwaves that will likely reshape investing strategies and will potentially revitalize innovation and competition in the search engine sector.
The Implications of Google’s Dominance
While the general consumer may have a positive perception of Google, it’s important to recognize that for-profit corporations are driven by shareholder interests that, more often than not, don’t align with the public good. While it may be hard to distance oneself from the brands one’s grown to love, it’s important to recognize that consumers actively benefit from competition. Competition creates a marketplace where businesses are encouraged to innovate and one-up each other to create a product that best meets consumer demands.
Google’s main defense throughout the trial so far has been arguing that its product is far superior to competition and consumers are making an active choice to use Google due to superior search results and convenience. However, Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella describes the search engine landscape in a much different manner: “Everyone talks about the open web, but there really is only the Google web.” In essence, Nadella’s testimony boils down to explaining to the court that Google’s dominant market share forces publishers and advertisers to shape their content to its requirements, making it nearly impossible for competing search engines, like Microsoft’s Bing, to gain a foothold despite over 100 billion dollars being invested over the last 10 years. In fact, approximately 80% of global businesses rely on Google Ads for their pay-per-click campaigns, and more than 1.2 million businesses depend on Google’s services to market their products and services.
Google countered with a claim that they’re in active competition with other advertising platforms like YouTube, Amazon, and TikTok. As a result, their market share is only about 30 to 40%, a market share far below the threshold to declare a monopoly. Yet, expert witness Joshua Lowcock, Global Chief Media Officer at media agency Universal McCann, testified that search ads are integral to advertising campaigns to the point where they’re considered mandatory. In addition, he explains that Google, YouTube, and Amazon all address different stages of the consumer journey which reinforced the DOJ’s monopoly definition in terms of search advertising.
To take things a step further, Google’s monopolistic control not only bars other players from entering the competitive landscape but also contributes to what is known as the flywheel effect – or a self-reinforcing cycle. The Department of Justice argues that Google’s longstanding market dominance, aided by its default agreements, allows the company to gather vast amounts of data, which in turn improves search accuracy. As results become more reliable and accurate, advertisers are drawn to advertise on Google due to higher engagement and better targeting. This, in turn, results in more revenue that can be reinvested into even more massive deals, further entrenching Google’s position at the top.
Figure 2: Visualization of the flywheel effect from Dataloop AI
Historically, such relentless flywheel cycles have not only consolidated market dominance but have also fostered a concerning phenomenon: stagnancy. A lack of competition undoubtedly leads to complacency as innovation becomes driven by a company’s internal decisions rather than consumer demands. Circling back to Google, the absence of competition leaves users in the dust as the incentive for Google to address key issues – such as privacy concerns, more accurate search results, and a generally improved user experience – is practically non-existent.
The Future of Search
As the world enters a new phase of technological development, artificial intelligence seems all but set to separate tech giants from the rest. Many advanced artificial intelligence systems, such as large language models, heavily rely on access to extensive datasets to improve their performance and accuracy. Thus, the gradual integration of artificial intelligence into existing search engines can be seen as a double-edged sword. On one hand, enhanced efficiency and accuracy undoubtedly benefit the general consumer but at the same time, it could exacerbate the gap between tech behemoths like Google and their competitors.
Amidst current events, Microsoft’s strategic move to integrate OpenAI into its search engine Bing had initially led to a notable increase in traffic, with a 15.8% rise. In contrast, Google experienced a slight decline of around 2 percent in traffic. Striving to mitigate potential losses, Google has recently responded with its own large language model, BARD, exemplifying the continuous tug-of-war that plagues the search engine sector. As industry insider Noah Smith puts it, it’s “even worse of a nightmare to make progress in search because there’s a new avenue to lock up – the thing that basically feeds the power to LLMs which is content.” Smith captures the core of the issue: as artificial intelligence becomes central to search engines, the control over content – and thus the data used to train these models – becomes a new battleground. And the clear favorites are those with ample content to feed their generative systems, poised to pull further ahead and make it nearly impossible for others to catch up or compete effectively.
The future of search entirely hinges on Judge Mehta’s ruling in United States v. Google LLC. If Dintzer and his team can successfully argue their case, compelling Google to change its anticompetitive practices, the DOJ would essentially open up the market to new players. This shake-up could lead to a wide array of consequences, including a drop in Google’s stock price as investors will assess the company’s profitability in a more competitive environment. However, should the DOJ fail to secure its desired outcome, Google’s dominant position would be reinforced by legal precedent. This would both solidify its supremacy but also bolster investor confidence as it’s logical to anticipate a continuation of Google’s flywheel status.
While many experts initially predicted an easy victory for Google as historic antitrust law is hard to apply to the digital realm, a recent development in Epic v. Google, where the video game developer accused the tech giant of running an illegal app store monopoly, not only left Google 700 million dollars short but also exposed legal vulnerabilities. This significant legal victory serves as a green light for regulators and competitors alike to assume that Google’s empire might be much more legally contestable than previously imagined.
Outside the scope of the trial at hand, this case’s outcome could also serve as inspiration for future antitrust litigation against tech giants. A win for Dintzer would encourage regulatory bodies to take a stand against big players and potentially reshape the structure of the tech industry, influencing market dynamics, consumer choices, and regulations for years to come.
Strategizing for the Future [H2]As the investing world awaits Judge Mehta’s final ruling, many investors have begun considering hedging strategies that could help manage potential market volatility. For more risk-averse investors, by diversifying their holdings to include both Google and its competitors, investors can create a portfolio that, in theory, should remain stable regardless of the trial’s outcome. With Alphabet, Google’s parent company, sitting in the 140 to 145-dollar stock price range, purchasing put options close to this price range offers investors an additional safety net. By owning put options, investors would be allowed to sell their Google holdings at a predetermined price, regardless of any potential drop due to the trial outcome. While this course of action is by far the most risk-averse, many people seeking to maximize profit are adjusting their investments accordingly. Investors anticipating the tech giant to lose in court might consider placing their speculative bets on companies that would benefit from a ruling against Google. By obtaining holdings across competitors in the tech sector and companies that are set to benefit from a weakening in Google’s dominance in search and advertising, investors are more likely to capitalize on market shifts that would follow an outcome against Google for the trial. For those on the opposite side of the aisle who are anticipating Google to win in court, holding on to their shares and, perhaps, acquiring a larger stake in Google could prove fruitful should Mehta’s ruling be in favor of the tech giant. At the end of the day, investing is a game of predicting the future, and capitalizing off of it requires being informed and familiar with the inner workings of the stock market and trading. However, consistent advice that extends past this case is to keep an eye out for developments through mainstream media and to keep up with the world of business, with Business Review at Berkeley as one of your guides.
Take Home Points
- The US Department of Justice Alleges Google’s anticompetitive allows the company to dominate the search and advertising sector.
- Even major firms like Microsoft struggle against Google’s market dominance.
- Google’s market control and flywheel status raise concerns over privacy and user experience.
- Integrating Artificial Intelligence into search engines can potentially widen the tech giant’s competitive gap.
- The outcome of the case could significantly reshape the tech industry by either entrenching giants or reinvigorating competition.