What DOJ’s Landmark Antitrust Case Against Google Could Mean for Consumers…and Big Tech

KQED's Forum

KQED

News, News Commentary, Politics

4.2 • 727 Ratings

🗓️ 13 September 2023

⏱️ 56 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Google spends more than $10 billion per year to maintain its monopoly control over internet search, a U.S. government lawyer alleged in a Washington, D.C. courtroom on Tuesday. In what is being called the most important antitrust trial in nearly 25 years, the U.S. Department of Justice is accusing Google of harming consumers and stifling competition by cutting deals with smartphone makers to be their default search engine. Google, which controls about 90 percent of the U.S. search engine market, said in court on Tuesday that dissatisfied users can simply switch web browsers “with a few easy clicks.” We’ll preview the rest of the trial and examine what is at stake for tech companies and consumers. Guests: Sheelah Kolhatkar, staff writer, The New Yorker - where she writes about Wall Street, Silicon Valley, economics, and politics Bill Baer, visiting fellow governance studies, Brookings Institution; former director, the Bureau of Competition, Federal Trade Commission; former assistant attorney general, the Antitrust Division, U.S. Department of Justice Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0	Support for KQED podcasts comes from San Francisco International Airport.
0:05.0	Did you know that SFO has a world-class museum?
0:07.9	Get ready to be wowed by art, history, science, and cultural exhibitions throughout the terminals.
0:14.0	Learn more at flysfo.com slash museum.
0:18.6	Support for forum comes from Broadway SF, presenting Parade, the musical revival based on a true story.
0:25.9	From three-time Tony-winning composer Jason Robert Brown comes the story of Leo and Lucille Frank,
0:32.5	a newlywed Jewish couple struggling to make a life in Georgia. When Leo is accused of an unspeakable crime,
0:39.2	it propels them into an unimaginable test of faith, humanity, justice, and devotion. The riveting
0:47.1	and gloriously hopeful parade plays the Orpheum Theater for three weeks only, May 20th through
0:53.0	June 8th. Tickets on sale now at Broadwaysf.com.
0:59.4	From KQUED in San Francisco, I'm Mina Kim. Coming up on forum, do you use Google as your search engine?
1:23.5	The federal government says that's probably because Google spends more than $10 billion a year
1:28.1	to maintain its monopoly control over online search, cutting deals with smartphone makers to be
1:33.2	their default search engine and stifling competition in the process.
1:37.0	But in a D.C. courtroom yesterday, Google defended itself, saying people choose their search
1:41.5	providers and can switch their default search engine with a few easy clicks.
1:46.0	We take a closer look at what's being called the most consequential antitrust trial in decades,
1:52.0	and what's at stake for Google, other tech companies, and consumers.
1:56.0	Join us. Welcome to Forum. I'm Mina Kim. The trial that's being called the most consequential antitrust case of the modern internet era began in a D.C. courtroom yesterday. The U.S. versus Google will hash out whether Google's dominance as a search
2:19.2	engine is because of illegal deals it made with Apple and other smartphone makers to be the
2:24.3	default search provider, as the federal government and 38 states and territories argue, or because
2:30.5	it's a superior product people choose as Google contends.
	...

Please login to see the full transcript.

Previous episode | Next episode

Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from KQED, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.

Generated transcripts are the property of KQED and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.