US takes on Google in landmark antitrust trial

WASHINGTON, Sept 10 (AFP): Google faces its biggest ever legal challenge in a Washington court on Tuesday, as it fends off accusations from the US government that it acted unlawfully to build its overwhelming dominance of online search.

Over ten weeks of testimony involving more than 100 witnesses, Google will try to persuade a federal judge that the landmark case brought by the Department of Justice is without merit. The trial is the biggest US antitrust case against a big tech company since the same department took on Microsoft more than two decades ago over the dominance of its Windows operating system.

"Technology has progressed a lot in 20 years so what results from this case will have a strong bearing on how tech platforms operate in the future," said John Lopatka, from Penn State's School of Law. The Google case centres on the government's contention that it illegally forged its domination of online search by entering into exclusive contracts with device makers, mobile operators and other companies that left rivals no chance to compete.