Technology

The justice department has accused Google of using its market power to unfairly lock out rivals and position itself as a gatekeeper of the web. The case marks the first brought by the government against Google to go to trial. The justice department has also joined a separate case against Google brought by the attorneys general of 38 states and territories over monopoly concerns in advertising.

Google has denied wrongdoing in both cases and did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The justice department did not immediately comment.

In filings unsealed last month, Judge Amit P Mehta tossed out a handful of charges brought against Google, narrowing the case in a slight victory for the company. He said Google was not required to defend itself against charges that the design of its search results page has harmed rivals such as Expedia or Yelp.

Still, Mehta allowed some of the more significant charges to proceed, including key arguments that Google’s exclusive contracts with phone manufacturers allegedly harmed competitors. The department alleges the company pays billions each year to “secure default status for its general search engine and, in many cases, to specifically prohibit Google’s counterparties from dealing with Google’s competitors”.