Google denies allegations in DOJ antitrust complaint

Google has formally responded to the Department of Justice’s (DOJ) antitrust case against it, denying allegations that the company abused its dominance in online search and advertising.

The 42-page filing on Monday night denies or partially rejects the almost 200 specific complaints against the Silicon Valley giant except one: Google was “founded in a Menlo Park garage 22 years ago.”

The company argues that its search product is continually being “innovated and promoted” as part of its effort to “organize the world’s information and make it universally accessible and useful.”

“People use Google Search because they choose to, not because they are forced to or because they cannot easily find alternative ways to search for information on the internet,” the company said.

The filing is Google’s first major legal response to the wave of challenges it has faced over the past few months, though the company has previously defended its search engine in the face of mounting litigation.

Since the DOJ first unveiled the charges it was pursuing against Google, two separate groups of state attorneys general have also filed cases challenging the company’s control over search and advertising technology.

The group focused on search has asked for their case to be combined with the federal lawsuit.

The trial over the Justice Department’s case is not set to start until 2023, Judge Amit Mehta said last week.