The Department of Justice has filed an antitrust lawsuit against search engine giant Google over its dominance in an online search. The agency in its suit accused the tech giant of using illegal means to maintain its monopoly over search. In order to do this, Google used several exclusive business agreements and contracts that completely lock out the competition. There are eleven attorneys general of Republican state who have joined the Justice Department as plaintiffs in the case. The 11 are Arkansas, Indiana, Florida, Kentucky, Louisiana, Georgia, Montana, Mississippi, South Carolina, Missouri, and Texas, according to an open docket of the case. There was no impact of the move on Google’s stock and there were on the positive side after the news of the suit poured in.

The complaint has been brought under Section 2 of the Sherman Act by the Department of Justice and states. The lawsuit alleged that Google, a unit of Alphabet, maintained monopolies in markets for general search text advertising, general search services, and search advertising. The lawsuit alleged Google of maintaining its monopoly through “anticompetitive and exclusionary practices.” The lawsuit has been filed after an over of year investigation into the business practices followed by the company. The company was earlier subjected to US antitrust investigation by the Federal Trade Commission of its search product. However, the probe was closed in 2013 and no charges were framed. A leaked document was later published by a newspaper that showed staff recommended bringing a case on several grounds.

This is the first time when such a serious antitrust charge has been made against the search engine on the federal level. On top of that, it has been made in Google’s home country. Google’s practices are being also probed by attorneys general from every state san Alabama. Reacting to it, Google said that the lawsuit is deeply flawed. A spokesperson said that people used the search engine because they choose to.