Google has until 19 December to respond to antitrust lawsuit
Google has until 19 December to respond to a major antitrust lawsuit filed by the US Department of Justice earlier this week.
A court filing today revealed the date by which the tech giant would have to answer the case that officials have brought.
The lawsuit accuses the $1 trillion company of breaking the law by using its huge size to fend off smaller rivals.
In response, Google branded the accusations as “deeply flawed” and warned that consumers would suffer if the government won the case.
The allegations say that the company unlawfully shuts out rivals in its search and advertising businesses, using money generated from ads to pay mobile companies and browsers to keep Google as their default search engine.
These moves mean Google holds a dominant position on devices in the US, granting rivals little opportunity to compete, the lawsuit claims.
The legal battle comes more than a year after the Justice Department and Federal Trade Commission opened antitrust investigations into Google, Facebook, Apple and Amazon.
It follows a damning report from the US House antitrust committee, published last week, which accused Google and its fellow tech giants of abusing their market power and called for a potential break-up.
The lawsuit is the most aggressive challenge to a Silicon Valley tech giant in more than two decades.
In response, Google senior vice president of global affairs Kent Walker blasted the “dubious antitrust arguments”.
“People use Google because they choose to, not because they’re forced to, or because they can’t find alternatives”.