Google Antitrust Case Could Reshape Online Advertising for Inglewood Businesses

As Google heads back to court Monday for the final phase of a landmark antitrust case that could result in the tech giant’s breakup, the outcome could significantly impact how Inglewood businesses advertise online and how residents access information on the internet.

In 2020, the Justice Department, joined by a group of states, accused Google of illegally stifling competition by paying web browser and phone manufacturers to set Google as their default search engine. Last summer, U.S. District Judge Amit Mehta ruled that “Google is a monopolist, and it has acted as one to maintain its monopoly.”

For Inglewood’s small business community, which increasingly relies on digital marketing and search engine visibility, any changes to Google’s dominance could alter how they reach customers online.

“Many of our local businesses in Inglewood depend on Google searches and advertising to be found by customers,” said Marcus Johnson, President of the Inglewood Chamber of Commerce. “Any major changes to how Google operates could require our business owners to adapt their digital marketing strategies.”

Starting Monday, Judge Mehta will preside over a hearing expected to last several weeks, during which the Justice Department and Google will present competing visions for appropriate remedies to address the company’s monopolistic behavior. The government’s proposed remedies include forcing Google to stop making payments to phone makers like Apple that ensure its default search position, and potentially requiring Google to spin off its Chrome web browser or sell its Android smartphone operating system.

Chrome is the world’s leading web browser and Android is used by more smartphone users than any other operating system. Both products come preloaded with Google search as the default.

The tech company’s highly profitable advertising business is powered by data it harvests from user activity on Chrome and Google search – the same advertising platform that many Inglewood businesses utilize to reach potential customers.

In a pre-hearing brief on April 14, lawyers for Google argued that the Justice Department’s proposed remedies do not match the conduct for which it was found to be anticompetitive and “would harm consumers and innovation.”

For Inglewood residents who work in the tech industry, including at Google’s Los Angeles offices, the case may have employment implications. The tech sector provides significant job opportunities for residents of Inglewood and surrounding communities.

“This case is defining how digital markets will be regulated,” said Rebecca Haw Allensworth, an antitrust professor at Vanderbilt Law School. “It’s the idea that just because you’re great and you were innovative and you make a new product that changes everybody’s life, and everybody uses it quite a bit, doesn’t mean that you get to then defend that monopoly by excluding others and kind of stopping that innovation.”

John Newman, an antitrust law expert at the University of Miami, suggested the current case against Google could create a major shift in the environment for tech innovation. “If the judge does everything that the government is asking… the landscape could look pretty radically different,” he said.

These changes could make it easier for tech startups, including those in the growing Los Angeles tech ecosystem that employs Inglewood residents, to get competitive products in front of consumers. At the moment, Newman says Google is “like gravity,” constantly pulling users back to its services because it’s the default on phones and browsers.

For Inglewood community members, particularly students and job seekers who rely on internet search for educational and career resources, any changes to how search engines operate could affect how they access information online.

Local digital literacy instructor Patricia Williams, who teaches computer skills at Inglewood Public Library, noted that “many of our community members have learned to use the internet through Google’s products. If significant changes occur, we may need to adapt our digital literacy programs to help residents navigate new systems.”

The hearing comes as Big Tech faces scrutiny on multiple fronts. Another U.S. District Court judge recently ruled against Google in a separate case involving online advertising technology, and Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg was in court last week defending his social media platform against monopoly accusations from the Federal Trade Commission.

The nearly $2 trillion company has said it plans to appeal the monopoly ruling, but cannot do so until this remedies phase of the trial concludes.

This story draws on reporting from NPR with additional context for Inglewood Times readers.