The Federal government brought an antitrust case against Google that wrapped in early May. The case accused the company of being a monopoly and asked questions about Google’s practices. Three-and-a-half weeks later, it was revealed that thousands of internal documents were leaked. These brought light on how the search giant ranked websites and businesses. One could argue that May was not Google's best month.

US v. Google

On January 24, 2023, the Justice Department filed a civil antitrust suit against Google. The Justice Department maintains that Google monopolized, “…multiple digital advertising technology products in violation of Sections 1 and 2 of the Sherman Act.” The Sherman Antitrust Act was passed in 1890. It prohibits unfair monopolies and ensures free competition.

The suit alleges that, “…over the past 15 years, Google has engaged in a course of anticompetitive and exclusionary conduct that consisted of neutralizing or eliminating ad tech competitors through acquisition; wielding its dominance across digital advertising markets to force more publishers and advertisers to use its products; and thwarting the ability to use competing products.”

This activity, the suit argues, cemented Google’s dominance, “…in tools relied on by website publishers and online advertisers.”

The Trial

The trial began in the fall of 2023, and closing arguments were heard on May 2, 2024. Some witnesses revealed interesting facts about Google’s practices. According to APNews.com, Google pays over $20 billion each year to be the default search engine on browsers such as Apple’s Safari or Mozilla’s Firefox.

It can afford to pay out those large sums because Google makes a lot of money, about $96 billion in 2023. Most of that came from advertising revenue. It’s no secret that in the online world, Google dominates advertising mainly because it controls 90% of the online search market. If the majority of consumers use Google to find the products or services they’re looking for, then it makes sense for businesses to advertise there.

Google’s position has been consistent: The company maintains that it has superior technology, so there is no need for “sinister tactics.”

U.S. District Judge Amit Mehta challenged Google’s lead attorney, asking if another company could ever develop the data or the revenue needed to compete against Google? “It seems to be very, very unlikely, if not impossible, under the current market conditions.” Mehta also reflected that he found it odd that no competitor is trying to enter the marketplace to cut into Google’s billions.

U.S. District Court Judge Amit Mehta will make his decision on this case later this summer.

The Google Document Leak

On May 28, 2024, SearchEngineLand.com announced that Google had suffered a huge document leak. They revealed the various factors Google uses for ranking. The thousands of documents provide a glimpse into how Google’s algorithm works. This is precious information for businesses and their SEO employees or partners.

As suspected, the leaked documents inform us that the search algorithm is complex. When it comes to ranking features, there are 2,596 modules with over 14,000 attributes. Researchers of the leaked documents have come to a few conclusions. Successful clicks seem to be key by using queries and great content to create a positive user experience. “A focus on driving qualified traffic to a better user experience will send signals to Google that your page deserves to rank.”

SparkToro co-founder Rand Fishkin has had some time to examine the documents. His takeaway is this: “if there is one universal piece of advice I had for marketers seeking to broadly improve their organic search rankings and traffic, it would be ‘build a notable, popular, well-recognized brand in your space, outside of Google search.’”

What’s it All Mean?

It’s been a tough one-two punch for Google to absorb, all in just a few weeks.

What does all this mean? Depending on how Judge Mehti rules, Google Search as we know it today could be altered. Google may have to change certain practices, allowing competitors to compete on a more even playing field than before.

Additionally, with the leaked documents exposing some aspects of how the Google algorithm(s) sorts and ranks search results, the search giant has lost some of its power over us. The federal case and the document leak together have pulled back the curtain a bit. Seeing behind the curtain often changes things.

When Dorothy saw that the “man behind the curtain” was actually the Wizard, the magic was revealed and his ability to coerce her was finished. Now that we’ve seen behind Google’s curtain, can it ever have the same power over us again?