Google accused of anti-competitive practices to keep its search engine as the default

• The U.S. Department of Justice has accused Google of stifling competition in the search engine market by paying "enormous sums."
• The allegation was made during the first hearing ahead of DOJ’s antitrust lawsuit trial that's set to take place next year.
• Google's contracts with Apple, Samsung, and other big companies are in trouble if the DOJ wins the court battle.

In order to maintain its dominance in the search engine market, the US Department of Justice accused the company of paying large sums of money to tech companies.

During a hearing in Washington, D.C., an attorney for the DOJ raised concerns about the deals that were made with big phone makers and network carriers in the US to make it easier for people to find things on the internet.

The judge was told that people won't change the defaults. Defaults matter a lot and they are buying exclusive rights to them.

The amount wasn't revealed. Apple, Samsung, and other phone makers are paid a lot of money to keep their products in front of people. According to an investment note from Bernstein analyst, last year, it was claimed that the default search engine on Apple products could be worth over fifteen billion dollars.

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The Mountain View-based search giant also has contracts with the big telecom carriers to pre-load its search engine on new phones.

The contracts are seen as anti-competitive. It allows for the collection of user data, which is used to power its advertising empire. Most people don't bother changing the default search engine on their phone.

The DOJ's claim that the company faces competition from dozens of search engines is not supported by the evidence.

To shop on Amazon, you don't have to use a search engine. If you want to buy plane tickets, you don't have to go to the internet. Even though the company doesn't face the same competition on every query, it still faces tough competition.

There will be a hearing next year for the antitrust lawsuit. If the lawsuit succeeds, it will mean billions of dollars in lost revenue for the companies that make the phones.