The administration of United States President Donald Trump on Tuesday sued Google, accusing the company of stifling competition to maintain its preponderance in the marketplace for online search and advertising, The New York Times reported.

Eleven states – Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Indiana, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, South Carolina and Texas – joined the suit filed by the United States Justice Department, according to CNN.

The case filed in federal court in Washington, DC, alleged that the tech giant uses billions of dollars collected from advertisers to pay phone manufacturers like Apple and Samsung, and browser developers like Mozilla and Opera, to ensure Google is the default search engine on browsers.

As a result, “Google effectively owns or controls search distribution channels accounting for roughly 80 percent of the general search queries in the United States,” the American government agency alleged in its plea.

“For many years Google has used anticompetitive tactics to maintain and extend its monopolies in the markets for general search services, search advertising and general search text advertising – the cornerstones of its empire,” the US government said in a 57-page lawsuit, according to The New York Times.

“Two decades ago, Google became the darling of Silicon Valley as a scrappy start-up with an innovative way to search the emerging internet,” the government added. “That Google is long gone. The Google of today is a monopoly gatekeeper for the internet, and one of the wealthiest companies on the planet.”

The Justice Department didn’t spell out the specific remedies, but asked the court to order structural relief “as needed to remedy any anticompetitive harm,” according to AP. That opens the door to possible fundamental changes such as alterations to the company’s Chrome browser.

Barring a settlement, a trial would likely begin late next year or in 2022.

Google responds

Google vowed to defend itself. “Today’s lawsuit by the Department of Justice is deeply flawed,” Google Chief Legal Officer Kent Walker wrote in a blog post. “People use Google because they choose to – not because they’re forced to or because they can’t find alternatives.”

Walker said the US government’s complaint “relies on dubious antitrust arguments” that “would do nothing to help consumers”. “To the contrary, it would artificially prop up lower-quality search alternatives, raise phone prices, and make it harder for people to get the search services they want to use,” he wrote.

Google said its practice of paying to be the default search engine on smartphones like Apple’s is “no different” from moves by other businesses to promote their products. “Yes, like countless other businesses, we pay to promote our services, just like a cereal brand might pay a supermarket to stock its products at the end of a row or on a shelf at eye level,” the company executive said.

Google, whose corporate parent Alphabet Inc has a market value just over $1 trillion, controls about 90% of global web searches. The company owns the leading web browser in Chrome, the world’s largest smartphone operating system in Android, the top video site in YouTube and the most popular digital mapping system.

Most of Google’s services are offered for free in exchange for personal information that helps it sell its ads.

Lawmakers and consumer advocates have long accused Google of abusing its dominance in online search and advertising. But the company argues that although its businesses are large, they are useful and beneficial to consumers. It maintains that its services face ample competition and have unleashed innovations that help people manage their lives.