The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) urged the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals to strengthen penalties against Google. This request follows a federal judge's ruling that the company illegally monopolized the online search market.
The DOJ specifically asked the court to ban Google's payments to companies like Apple for default search engine status. A lower court previously denied this ban.
The government argues these lucrative agreements are essential to maintaining Google's monopoly. This landmark antitrust appeal could force significant changes to the company's business model.