In 2020, the Ministry of Justice charged Google, a subsidiary of Alphabet (Googl -1.44%)) (Goog -1.44%))Accusing the company of exploiting an illegal monopoly for online search. In 2023, the Ministry of Justice filed another lawsuit and accused the company of operating an illegal monopoly in Adtech software.
Federal judges have since ruled against alphabet in both antitrust cases. The judges will then identify and impose corrective measures to curb his monopolistic power.
This is what investors need to know.
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August 2024: A federal court ruled that Google has an illegal monopoly when searching for the internet
The lawsuit of the Ministry of Justice, which was submitted in 2020, claims that Google “a series of exclusion agreements has been concluded that jointly lock up the primary roads with which users have access to search engines, and therefore the internet, by demanding that Google is set as the pre -set standard search engine on billions of mobile devices and computers worldwide.”
For example, Google has paid Apple $ 20 billion in 2022 to retain its status as a standard search engine in the Safari browser. Allegedly Google also pays Google Samsung An unknown amount for the same privileges. Consequently, both companies could lose a considerable number of income for consumer electronics, depending on the resolution of the antitrust right case.
Judge Amit Mehta of the American district The side of the Ministry of Justice in August 2024, stated that Google had done illegal practices to retain its monopoly on the internet search market. Both parties have since proposed remedies. Possible solutions vary from prohibiting or limiting Google’s ability to pay for standard search to force the company to sell its Chrome -Browser and Android operating system.
District court Mehta is planning to focus on legal remedies in August 2025. But Google has already said that it is appealing against an unfavorable decision, which means that the legal battle can attract for years.
April 2025: A federal court ruled that Google has an illegal monopoly in advertising technical software
Google offers Adtech software for advertisers and publishers. The Publisher products include Google Ad Manager, Admob and Adsense, which help brands to sell advertisement inventory of websites and mobile apps. The advertiser products include Google advertisements and Google Marketing Platform, which help campaigns to plan, measure and optimize campaigns.
In addition, Google offers the real-time bidding technology, called Adexchange, where Sell-Side Tools and Buy-Side Tools Interface to facilitate advertising inventory channels. It is important that Google also sells its own inventory of properties such as Google Search and YouTube, which means that it directly competes with publishers who use the sales aids.
The lawsuit of the Ministry of Justice claims that Google is involved in “competitive and exclusively behavior that consisted of neutralizing or eliminating advertisement technical competitors.” Judge Leonie Brinkema of the American district The side of the Ministry of Justice in April 2025, ruled that Google had violated the antitrust laws by “deliberately gaining monopolistic power”.
The federal court will then consider potential remedies during a future hearing. Fixes can vary from behavioral changes to a forced break. To work out, the court can easily impose barriers that prevent Google from being a competitive provider, or the court could order Google to sell part of his Adtech ecosystem.
Alphabet is a somewhat risky investment, but the shares act at an attractive price
The current situation is far from ideal for shareholders of alphabet, but the historical precedent says that an apart is unlikely. Antitrust -Rights cases have not led in four decades, according to a break -off The Wall Street Journal. And the last time a judge tried to break a large technology company, Microsoft In 2001, a Federal Court of Appeal eventually reversed the decision.
It is important that, although the hanging lawsuits remain a great unknown, Wall Street estimates that the income of Alphabet will rise by 12% annually until 2026. That makes the current appreciation of 19 times income reasonable, especially when Alphabet beats the estimate of the consensus profit in the past six quarters. Investors who are comfortable with the risk must consider buying a small position today.
Suzanne Frey, a director of Alphabet, is a member of the board of directors of the Motley Fool. Trevor Jennewine has no position in one of the aforementioned shares. The Motley Fool has positions and recommends alphabet, Apple and Microsoft. The Motley Fool recommends the following options: Lang January 2026 $ 395 calls on Microsoft and short January 2026 $ 405 calls on Microsoft. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.
