What could Google monopoly ruling mean for you?

Something that’s easier to imagine is some kind of choice screen, where people opening a browser for the first time are asked whether they’d like to use Google or an alternative like Microsoft’s Bing.

It is somewhat harder to picture that causing people to abandon Google in their droves, however, for the simple reason that for most people it simply works well.

Those of us with grey hairs will recall Google being one of several search engines to emerge at the dawn of the internet, with familiar rivals including Yahoo and Ask (formerly AskJeeves), and possibly less-familiar rivals including Lycos and AltaVista.

But over the next decade, Google didn’t just become the dominant player in the market, it became part of the way we speak.

Despite Microsoft launching its rival, Bing, in 2009, nothing has yet knocked Google off its perch.

Microsoft boss Satya Nadella testified in Google’s trial, perhaps hoping a judgment like this could finally help give Bing wings.

“The court may seek other ways to dismantle Google’s position as a default search engine but some of those remedies likely go beyond the facts driving this case,” said Professor Anu Bradford of Columbia Law School.

“For example, the EU is going further with its recent Digital Markets Act that forces even Google’s own Android phones to present users with a ‘choice screen’ that lets the user choose one’s preferred search engine when setting up the phone.

“One question is whether this new ruling paves way for such regulatory demands in the future.”