The Justice Department filed an antitrust lawsuit on Tuesday against Alphabet Inc.’s GOOG 2.63% Google, alleging that the company acted wrongly to maintain its position atop the search and search-advertising industries. Google has called the lawsuit deeply flawed, and warned that if successful, it could result in higher prices for consumers.
Google is a major player in many businesses and a minor player in others. Here’s a look at the company’s footprint across several areas of technology:
Search
Google captures over
of world-wide
search traffic
Google captures over
of mobile
search traffic
Google captures over
of world-wide
search traffic
Google captures over
of mobile
search traffic
Google captures over
of world-wide
search traffic
Google captures over
of mobile
search traffic
World-wide search traffic
Mobile search traffic
Google is the world’s most widely used search engine. The DOJ suit is the latest attempt by a government to challenge the company’s business practices in search.
The European Union has fined the company about $9 billion for antitrust violations, such as favoring its own shopping ads in search results. Google has appealed those rulings, saying that self-preferencing is a new legal principle and not a sound basis for the penalties. In response to a U.K. investigation, Google has said its success in search is a result of investment and innovation, not exclusionary practices. The company says that its “products increase choice and expand competition.”
Digital Ads
An estimated
of digital ads
are purchased on
a Google platform*
An estimated
of digital ads are sold
on a Google platform*
*Estimates come from a U.K. study of the U.K. market.
An estimated
of digital ads
are purchased on
a Google platform*
An estimated
of digital ads are sold
on a Google platform*
*Estimates come from a U.K. study of the U.K. market.
An estimated
of digital ads
are purchased on
a Google platform*
An estimated
of digital ads are sold
on a Google platform*
*Estimates come from a U.K. study of the U.K. market.
Digital ads bought on Google platforms*
Digital ads sold on Google platforms*
*Estimates come from a U.K. study of the
U.K. market.
Google owns the most popular tools used to place and buy digital ads. At least 40% of digital ads in the U.K. are purchased on a Google-owned platform, such as Google DV360 or Google Ads, and at least half are sold on Google AdX, according to a report from the U.K.’s Competition and Markets Authority. In the U.S., state attorneys general are looking into the company’s control of the digital-advertising market. Google declined to comment on a possible lawsuit from the states, but said in a recent blog post that its products “level the playing field for small businesses everywhere.”
Smartphones
Android runs around
of smartphones
world-wide
Android runs around
of smartphones
world-wide
Android runs around
of smartphones
world-wide
Smartphones run on Android
Apple’s iOS powers almost 60% of U.S. smartphones. Elsewhere in the world, most smartphones run on Google’s Android operating system. That is partly because Google allows any smartphone manufacturer to use—and customize—Android for its devices; Apple’s iOS runs only on the company’s own phones. This widespread availability has helped Android gain and maintain a global market share three times that of iOS.
Maps
Google Maps
Google Maps is
used by
Apple Maps
of monthly navigation
and map app users*
Google Earth
*Figures don’t add up to 100 because users can use more than one tool.
Google Maps
Google Maps is
used by
Apple Maps
of monthly navigation
and map app users*
Google Earth
*Figures don’t add up to 100 because users can use more than one tool.
Google Maps
Google Maps is
used by
Apple Maps
of monthly navigation
and map app users*
Google Earth
*Figures don’t add up to 100 because users can use more than one tool.
Monthly navigation and map app users*
Google Maps
Apple Maps
Google Earth
*Figures don’t add up to 100 because users can
use more than one tool.
In 2013, Google purchased Waze, an Israeli startup that was then Google Maps’ biggest competitor. Apple Maps, the next-biggest player in navigation, comes pre-installed on Apple devices, but according to Comscore, Google Maps logged over 37 million monthly U.S. iPhone users in 2018, over 6 million more than Apple Maps. In addition to using the Maps app itself, companies such as Uber Technologies Inc. use Google Maps’ underlying data to power their own applications.
Video
YouTube captures
an estimated
of the online video
platform market
YouTube captures
an estimated
of the online video
platform market
YouTube captures
an estimated
of the online video
platform market
YouTube’s share of online video platform
market
Google purchased YouTube for $1.65 billion in 2006. Since then, the video site has played an increasingly important role in the company’s search and digital-advertising business. YouTube ads brought in over $15 billion of Google’s $98 billion of revenue in 2019, according to company financial disclosures. Data from market research firm Datanyze suggest that YouTube is four times the size of the next-largest platform that allows users to upload, convert, store and play videos online.
Browsers
Chrome captures over
of all browser usage
world-wide
Samsung Internet
Chrome captures over
of all browser usage
world-wide
Samsung Internet
Chrome captures over
of all browser usage
world-wide
Samsung Internet
Google Chome’s share of all browser usage
Samsung Internet
Google Chrome is the most widely used internet browser in the world, and its success both reinforces and is reinforced by Google’s strong position in other sectors. For instance, Google is the default search engine on Chrome, and Chrome is the default browser on Android. Android’s ubiquity in the smartphone market drives more users to Chrome, which in turn drives more traffic to search.
Smart Speakers
Google controls
of the U.S.
smart-speaker
market
Google controls
of the U.S.
smart-speaker
market
Google controls
of the U.S.
smart-speaker
market
U.S. smart-speaker market
Google is fast gaining ground in smart speakers, a business Amazon.com Inc. has long led. At the beginning of 2017, Google controlled 24% of the market, according to industry research. Last quarter, 40% of the 7.4 million smart speakers purchased in the U.S. were Google devices, and the Google Nest Mini was the top-selling smart speaker in the country.
Cloud Computing
Google Cloud captures
Amazon
Web Services
Microsoft
Azure
of the global cloud
infrastructure market
Alibaba Cloud
Google Cloud captures
Amazon
Web Services
Microsoft
Azure
of the global cloud
infrastructure market
Alibaba Cloud
Google Cloud captures
Amazon
Web Services
Microsoft
Azure
of the global cloud
infrastructure market
Alibaba Cloud
Global cloud infrastructure market
Amazon
Web Services
Alibaba Cloud
Cloud (6%)
Microsoft Azure
In the $34.6 billion cloud-computing market, Google Cloud lags behind Amazon Web Services and Microsoft Corp.’s Azure. At the beginning of the coronavirus pandemic, Google’s Cloud team raced to launch new features aimed at maintaining and growing its enterprise customer base as workers went remote. Between the first and second quarter of this year, Google Cloud revenues increased 8% to just over $3 billion from $2.7 billion.
Smartwatches
Fitbit accounts for
of the global
smartwatch market
Fitbit accounts for
of the global
smartwatch market
Fitbit accounts for
of the global
smartwatch market
Global smart watch market
Fitbit (6%)
Google agreed to buy Fitbit Inc. for $2.1 billion last year, but the possible acquisition has since been under investigation by regulators in the European Union, Australia and the U.S. If the deal is approved, it would be the tech giant’s biggest foray into smartwatch hardware. Google has had its own Wear operating system for smartwatches since 2014 but has yet to create a Google-branded watch.
—Sources: Statcounter (search, browsers, mobile operating systems); U.K. Competition and Markets Authority (ad tech); Verto Analytics (maps); Canalys (smartwatches, cloud, smart speakers); Datanyze (video platforms)
The Google Antitrust Suit
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