Normally at this point in the calendar we would be covering the Year in Search for Google. Instead, we’re looking at another theme for the tech giant – antitrust lawsuits.

More precisely a lawsuit where 38 states (PDF) in the US have alleged that Google is manipulating its Search tool in such a way as to prioritise its own services over that of competitors.

It is not the first time that Google has faced this kind of legal action, but what makes this lawsuit particularly significant is the increased intensity with which government agencies and watch dogs have been looking at the way in which big tech firms operate in 2020.

“Google sits at the crossroads of so many areas of our digital economy and has used its dominance to illegally squash competitors, monitor nearly every aspect of our digital lives, and profit to the tune of billions,” noted New York Democratic Attorney General, Letitia James, in a statement after the lawsuit was filed.

The attorney general’s office added that it aims to, “counter any advantages that Google gained as a result of its anticompetitive conduct.

Responding to the allegations contained within the lawsuit’s Google’s director of economic policy, Adam Cohen, wrote in a blog post that this legal action threatens to redesign the core nature of Search, which in turn would limit the “helpful information” that it provides.

“This lawsuit demands changes to the design of Google Search, requiring us to prominently feature online middlemen in place of direct connections to businesses,” says Cohen.

“Redesigning Google Search this way would harm the quality of your search results. And it would come at the expense of businesses like retailers, restaurants, repair shops, airlines and hotels whose listings in Google help them get discovered, and connect directly with customers,” he adds.

While it is hard to argue with his reasoning, especially as Search is an intrinsic part of how so many people and businesses use the internet today, it does, however, seem like Cohen is arguing that Google’s tools are simply too important to be tampered with.

It remains to be seen what this antitrust lawsuit yields, and whether Google will simply be forced to pay a sizeable fine as its penance. That said, it looks like this bi-partisan legal action could also look to break up this big tech firm, as has been posited in the past by those in US politics.

Either way, it will be interesting to see how this plays out.

[Image – Photo by Christian Wiediger on Unsplash]