Streets Ahead: Google DOJ Ruling and Google’s Search Dominance

In this week’s Streets Ahead update from SOCi, we learn about the Google DOJ ruling and AI’s effect on Google’s search dominance 

Google Ruled a Monopoly in DOJ Case

In a 2020 lawsuit, the Department of Justice and several state attorneys general accused Google of maintaining a monopoly, leading to a ruling by federal judge Amit Mehta that confirmed Google’s monopolistic status. Mehta stated, “Google is a monopolist, and it has acted as one to maintain its monopoly.”

The lawsuit challenges Google’s dominance as the default search engine on platforms like Apple, Samsung, and Mozilla, for which Google pays $26 billion annually. While no penalties have been imposed yet, restrictions on these partnerships and potential divestiture of Google’s ad business are under consideration.

Google contends its market position is due to superior products, supported by testimony from Apple’s Eddy Cue, who indicated that no financial incentive would persuade Apple to switch from Google to Bing. Google plans to appeal the DOJ ruling, with a separate trial needed to determine any penalties.

Why this matters:

The decision’s impact is still unclear, but it is widely regarded as a historic moment, marking the most significant antitrust action against a tech giant since Microsoft in 2000.

One potential outcome is that companies like Apple may be required to offer users alternative search engines instead of defaulting to Google. However, many users may still choose Google as their preferred option.

This DOJ ruling comes at a time when concerns about Google’s product quality and self-preferencing are growing, alongside rising competition from platforms like Perplexity and OpenAI, which could lead to greater market competition in search.

Google’s Search Dominance Not Yet Impacted by AI Competitors

Analysis of clickstream data from Datos, reviewed by Sonata and Rand Fishkin, reveals that from May 2023 to May 2024, Google’s search traffic increased by approximately 1.4%, even with competition from AI-powered platforms like Bing and ChatGPT. While newer platforms like Perplexity saw significant growth, with a 42% increase, Google still had about 290 times the traffic of Perplexity. Additionally, Google’s users were more engaged, with Perplexity only reaching 7.5% of Google’s activity. Fishkin notes that while AI platforms are growing, they do not yet pose a substantial threat to Google. Older competitors like DuckDuckGo, which are showing stronger results, may be overshadowed by the focus on AI.

Why this matters:

The Datos study was released shortly before the above DOJ ruling and reinforces the notion that Google remains the dominant force in search—a fact all were already aware of. What’s more intriguing is that Bing is no longer Google’s sole significant competitor; DuckDuckGo, Perplexity, and potentially others are emerging as contenders that might capture a growing share of consumer attention in the future.