Google wins limits to antitrust case over default search deals
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Google's (NASDAQ:GOOG) (NASDAQ:GOOGL) antitrust trial over its search business deals is just over a month away -- and now it will see the suit scaled back somewhat as certain allegations have been excluded.
The cases combine a Justice Dept. case and one filed by state attorneys general covering Google's contracts to ensure its search engine was made default on Web browsers and mobile devices.
A ruling from U.S. District Judge Amit Mehta partly granted a Google motion for summary judgment in the Justice Dept. action against the company, as it related to allegations relating to "ACCs, AFAs, Google Assistant, IoT Devices, and AOSP."
And he granted Google's motion for summary judgment in action brought by state AGs as it related to claims about Google's conduct against "specialized vertical providers" such as Expedia or TripAdvisor in travel, OpenTable for restaurant reservations and Amazon and eBay for shopping.
But Mehta otherwise denied Google's motions. That meant leaving in place the DOJ's allegations that Google's search engine preloading deals with the likes of Apple, Mozilla and smartphone makers hurt the company's competition.
Those deals kept rivals including Bing (MSFT) and DuckDuckGo from gaining any competitive scale, the DOJ says.

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