Matt Schruers, president of the Computer & Communications Industry Association (CCIA), has criticized the government's antitrust lawsuit against Google, suggesting that the government is trying to push consumers towards a less preferred product simply because they believe Google is too big. In an interview with Federal Newswire, Schruers expressed concern over the government's attempt to drive consumers away from Google Search, which is a product that consumers generally prefer.
Pointing to testimony from Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella that Bing is not as good as Google Search, Schruers said, "This is pretty clearly an example of the government picking winners and losers." Despite the acknowledged quality difference, the government is trying to steer consumers towards Bing, which is a less popular product, Schruers said.
Schruers argued that it is worrisome if the government is using antitrust law to break up big companies solely due to their size, rather than focusing on addressing bad behavior.
Schruers emphasized that CCIA has historically fought against monopolies, such as IBM, AT&T, and Microsoft. However, in this case, he says the U.S. government appears to be targeting a product that people are generally satisfied with and attempting to drive them towards using the product of an even larger corporation that is less favored.
"This isn't how U.S. antitrust law is supposed to work."
Schruers also questioned the validity of the case against Google Search, suggesting that it is based on outdated theories about how people access information online. He pointed out that consumers have a wide range of options, including AI, voice assistants, apps, and other products, to find information without relying solely on a search engine. He stated, "The market for answers is enormous."
The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) has accused Google, which holds a 90% market share in search, of using unfair tactics to maintain its dominant position in the market. Google's lead lawyer, John Schmidtlein, has argued that Google Search's dominance is a result of the product's superiority compared to its competitors. Google has also highlighted that users have the option to easily switch to a different search engine if they prefer.
During the trial, Mikhail Parakhin, the CEO of Advertising and Web Services at Microsoft, said that Microsoft's mobile search is not as good as Google's. He further stated that it would be "uneconomical" for Microsoft to invest more heavily in mobile search, leading observers to suggest that Microsoft may not be able to claim unfair treatment in the search market if they are not willing to invest in improving their own product.
The trial against Google continues as both sides present their arguments.
