The DOJ and state attorneys general argue that Google’s rivals are limited to other search engines, such as Microsoft’s Bing, DuckDuckGo and Yahoo.
The government argues that Google has limited competition and therefore stifled innovation by not having to compete in search.
However, Google said that it does face competition in search the search market from more niche search sites like Yelp or Bookings.com, social media sites like TikTok and Meta-owned Facebook and Instagram, and online shopping sites like Amazon.
That competition for search requires Google to stay competitive with its products and features, a lawyer for the company said in an opening statement.
When asked to clarify why the DOJ doesn’t view the alternative sites as competitors in search, attorney Kenneth Dintzer said those sites do not do what general search does.
General search engines crawl and index the web to provide links across the internet.
A search on a platform like TikTok is limited to what is on TikTok and not the whole of the internet, Dintzer said.
Read more about key questions at the center of the trial in a full report at TheHill.com.
