Google is a monopoly, US federal court rules

Google is operating an illegal monopoly over the web search industry, according to a Monday ruling by judge Amit P. Mehta of the US District Court for the District of Columbia. The decision, reported by the New York Times, puts an end to a years-long case brought by the Department of Justice and state governments, accusing it of skewing the market through unfair practices. A particular focus was Google’s practice of paying companies like Apple, Mozilla, and Samsung to make its search tool the default in web browsers — making it tough for competitors like DuckDuckGo or Bing to gain traction.