Google, now one of the largest tech corporations in the world, is no longer “I’m Feeling Lucky” anymore. The technology company is in trouble now after a federal judge determined that it engaged in anticompetitive practices. This could result in one of the largest lawsuits where the company could potentially be liable for over $100 billion in damages.
The Antitrust Ruling: Google next?
In other words, a judge ruled that Google was not providing a level playing field in the search market. It states that Google engaged in antitrust practices to eliminate competition and it is now a monopolistic company.
Plus, you can afford to ask for higher fees for the ad spaces because businesses have no other option because it is the only media organization around. There was no way for advertisers to escape it; now, many of them appear overpaying for it potentially for years.
Worse still for Google, the Justice Department intervents, and the company has to answer for itself in court. Breaking up the company is undoubtedly one of the propositions that is currently on the table among all proposed solutions.
What’s Next? Lawsuits and More Lawsuits
In fact, the ruling gives the green light to even more propaganda cases. For instance, Yelp has sued Google for what it claims is an act of placing its search results above those of its competitors. It probably will not be the last company to come out with such an initiative, and that is good to know. It seems that the advertiser who has been complaining for years claiming that Google charged them too much should also be our next target.
However, if enough businesses joined the ranks, the potential payout Google may be liable for could be over $100 billion.
This amount is enough to buy a small country!
And while this is bad news for Google, it is also keeping other tech giants such as Apple, Meta, and Amazon a little on their toes, as they are also under fire for antitrust concerns.
The Bright Side: Google ‘New Revenues Services’
Before you start believing that Google is on its way out, let us share the positive news. In fact this search business might be boiling in something hot at the moment.
Google has other ways to earn through this and they are going pretty good at it. For subscriptions, Google has found success in using author-type people.
Growth in subscription services, platforms, and devices that were run by Google in the last three quarters is faster than just the search business. Many of us are familiar with YouTube, the world’s most popular streaming platform, which is a big part of Google’s subscriptions offering. Industry insiders, technological geniuses and other creators are converging towards YouTube and it is becoming a cash cow.
Google is also getting into the AI space with a paid version of its chatbot, Gemini, at $19.99 per month. The role of AI in these ecosystems remains undetermined whether AI is going to be what technology companies are expecting, but Google is ready to bet on it. They realize that depending on the advertising money is somewhat similar to the ride in the theme park – up one moment, and down next – so they are counting on subscriptions as being steadier sources of the income.
Conclusion: Google Is Here to Stay
It is true that Google is exposed to some severe threats, especially the dark cloud of what might be a record-breaking lawsuit, one should not forget that Google is a very diversified company.
Yes, their dominance in the search engine market share may be threatened, but make no mistake, Google is far from being counted out. With platforms like YouTube having very strong growth in subscriptions, their foray into AI, and other such aspects, Google is not out of tricks yet.
Therefore, those few following months might not be very easy for Google.
