Google turns to a steady old hand to fight antitrust charges

economictimes.indiatimes.com:

Google just needed to explain how its business functioned.

It was 2009, and the Federal Trade Commission was assessing whether Google had rigged technology markets in its favor. Walker's plan worked. The company agreed to a few small business practice changes in a 2013 settlement and maintained its search engine dominance for another decade.

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Now, Google and its parent company, Alphabet, are facing their most significant legal challenge. They are preparing to face off next week in federal court against the Justice Department and a collection of states, which claim the tech giant illegally abused its monopoly power to keep its search engine on top.

The Justice Department has argued that Google illegally used agreements with phone makers like Apple and Samsung, as well as internet browsers like Mozilla, to be the default search engine for their users, preventing smaller rivals from getting access to that business.

The court fight — the most important antitrust case since the Justice Department took on Microsoft 25 years ago — strikes at the heart of Alphabet's $1.7 trillion empire and could strip power and influence away from the world's most successful internet company.

If Google loses and a judge then approves remedies, it could eventually be forced to restructure in some way, and it could be hit with enormous fines and a prohibition on search distribution deals. That would translate to