Google’s “anti-competitive” tactics have been recently questioned by the federal government. Critics believe Google’s amount of power and influence over consumers is an illegal monopoly, owning 87% of the world market share of search engines, compared to Bing, at less than 7% (Statista).

The Department of Justice is focused on the tech company’s methods of hindering competition to maintain dominance in the market for online search and advertising, including paying millions of dollars to be the default search engine on devices made by Apple, Samsung, etc. The president argues that the tech company intentionally censors conservative views and opinions; however, there is no evidence for this claim to be true. David Danelli, a former DOJ antitrust official, criticizes Google for focusing more on revenue than accurate information.

“Google search is not a neutral gateway to the information available on the web… Google search is a set of algorithms designed to make Google the most money it can possibly make,” Danelli said.

However, Google insists that the services they provide are invaluable resources to the public, which are often free and user-friendly. They also claim that the case “would do nothing to help consumers,” as it would force them to use lower quality search engines and increase phone prices. Chief Legal Officer of Google, Kent Walker, sees the lawsuit as “deeply flawed,” and he’s afraid that Americans may never get to see the next Google.

“People use Google because they choose to, not because they’re forced to…” Walker said.