alphabet inc WELL Google Google deposits billions of dollars every year apple inc AAPL Samsung Electronics Co (OTC: SSNLF) and other telecom giants illegally dominate as the default search engine, the US Department of Justice claimed, The Wall Street Journal reports.

Google has given “enormous numbers” as the default search engine for most browsers and all US cell phones, Justice Department attorney Kenneth Dintzer told Judge Amit Mehta during a hearing in Washington.

At the same time, the attorneys general were pursuing an antitrust lawsuit pending at Mehta against the search giant.

Also read: EU and UK launch antitrust investigations into Google and Meta

Google also expressed competition from dozens of other companies microsoft corp MSFT Bing and DuckDuckGo. Its competitors also included ByteDance Ltd’s TikTok. Metaplatforms Inc META, Amazon.com Inc AMZNGrubhub Inc and other websites.

All parties agreed that new data on user queries is the key to the success of a search engine. Google controls the most popular browser, Chrome, and the second most popular mobile operating system, Android.

Dintzer focused on Google’s search engine mechanics and how its standard contracts have narrowed down potential competitors.

On mobile, Google signs deals with Apple, smartphone makers like Samsung and Motorola Solutions, Inc MSImost browsers and the three US telcos AT&T Inc T, Verizon Communications Inc vzand T-Mobile US, Inc TMUS to ensure the search engine is set as default and pre-installed on new phones.

Google’s contracts make it the “gateway” through which most people find websites on the web and prevent competitors from gaining the size to challenge its search engine, Dintzer said.

Price promotion: GOOG shares were up 1.21% at $110.74 in the premarket last check Friday.

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