Pre-Installed Power

In 2020, the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) filed a landmark antitrust lawsuit against Google, alleging the company unlawfully maintained a monopoly in general search.But this isn’t your grandfather’s antitrust case. In the digital age, the battle isn’t over prices—since search is “free” for users—it’s over defaults.We explore how Google’s multi-billion dollar agreements with smartphone manufacturers and carriers created a “moat” that rivals couldn’t cross. Did Google secure its position as the default search engine on billions of devices through merit-based competition, or did it simply acquire market share?In this episode, we break down* The economic value of “default” status.* Why the “free” price tag doesn’t protect a company from antitrust scrutiny.* The empirical evidence behind the DOJ’s complaint.This podcast is part of the EconWorks series. Visit the blog to learn more about the economics and to view our graphic representation of digital distribution moats:Subscribe to EconWorks to learn about the economics of the tech giants. We give weekly updates on antitrust litigation and platform governance.#Antitrust #Google #DOJ #Economics #TechLaw #EconWorks #Monopoly #SearchEngine This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit blog.econworks.com/subscribe