The Competitive Expectations Behind the Google Antitrust Trial

Art of Supply

Google is currently being sued by the U.S. Department of Justice for violating the Sherman Antitrust Act of 1890. Not since they went after Microsoft in 1994 has there been such a major antitrust trial with such widespread implications - and never before has U.S. antitrust law been so tested.

While it is not illegal to have a monopoly, it is illegal to stifle competition in order to keep one.

Google must now prove that it is the quality of their search product - not their statistically dominant position - that earns them widespread use, while the Federal government must demonstrate that Google has engaged in wilfully anticompetitive conduct.

In this week’s episode of Dial P for Procurement, Kelly Barner looks at the details and competitive expectations playing out live in a Washington D.C. courtroom:

• Providing a high level overview of the ongoing antitrust trial against Google
• Contextualizing Google’s actions and the DOJ’s legal position using Michael Porter’s Five Forces model
• Understanding the bar set by the Sherman Antitrust Act of 1890 for both sides in this court case

Links:

• Kelly Barner on LinkedIn
• Dial P for Procurement on AOP
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