For a long time, searching something online has been to ‘Google’ it, so what does the landmark legal ruling that the search engine giant acted as a monopoly mean for the future of SEO?
Some 5.9 million Google searches are performed every minute, demonstrating just how ingrained our use of the search engine is into daily life. As marketers, when we think about effective search engine optimisation (SEO) techniques, what we’re really doing is ensuring our strategies are in line with what will help us to rank highly in Google.
It’s safe to say then that the recent ruling that Google is an illegal monopoly has shaken us to the core. But does that mean we’re all set to ‘Bing’ it from now on? How will the US judge’s decision to come down against Google affect search and all of us who use it in our marketing practices?
The US Department of Justice sued Google in 2020 over its approximate 90 per cent market share of online search. It was just one of a number of lawsuits that have been filed by US antitrust authorities in a bid to improve competition in the industry.
It’s taken four years for the lawsuit to come this far and it’s not over yet, as it’s highly likely that Alphabet, Google’s parent company, will launch an appeal. In the ruling handed down by District Judge Amit Mehta, it was highlighted that Google has paid billions to be the default search engine on smartphones and browsers.
Judge Mehta said: “Google is a monopolist, and it has acted as one to maintain its monopoly.”
The US government has asked for “structural relief”, which could mean that Alphabet is forced to break up the various elements of Google. It’s unlikely there’ll be any major changes to search seen immediately, especially while an appeal is outstanding.
Future proceedings will determine what remedies are to be sought against Google, but it marks the end of an era for big tech companies not being held accountable for their actions. Antitrust laws go back more than 100 years, but how they’re applied to digital media is still to be determined.
Google has argued that its search engine offers the best service and shouldn’t be penalised for making it easily available to users. Another trial between the Department of Justice and Google is set to start in September, this time over its ad tech business.
This ruling could represent the biggest shake-up in search to date, but it’s important not to have a knee-jerk reaction. There’s a chance that marketers may need to adapt their strategies going forward, but exactly how will depend on what’s decided during the remedy phase of the judicial process.
Many of the updates to Google’s algorithm in recent years and the subsequent emergence of best practices have led to better quality content. That means marketers utilising techniques that work on Google have been ticking boxes for other search engines and users at the same time.
Depending on the outcome of any appeal, Google may end up welcoming competition on its SERPs as a way of dismantling its monopoly. Such a development could lead to results pages looking quite different and potentially offering marketers a variety of routes to getting their content discovered.
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