04:59 PM EDT, 08/05/2024 (MT Newswires) -- (Updates with details throughout, and with responses from Google ( GOOG ) and the Justice Department.)

Alphabet (GOOG) operated an illegal monopoly and violated US antitrust laws by spending tens of billions of dollars to secure exclusive contracts for making its search engine default on smartphones and web browser developers, a federal judge ruled Monday.

In particular, US District Judge Amit Mehta for the District of Columbia said Google's ( GOOG ) exclusive distribution agreements for its search engine products and related advertising business work to keep other companies from gaining a foothold in that business. The company lacks valid reasons to support is dominance and uses its market position to charge "supracompetitive prices" for its search text ads.

Mehta's order did not immediately provide for any penalties or prospective remedies.

US Attorney General Merrick Garland described Monday's decision as an "historic win for the American people. No company, he said, "is above the law," regardless of its size or influence," later adding the ruling "paves the path for innovation for generations to come and protects access to information for all Americans."

Google ( GOOG ) said in a statement on X that it plans to appeal the court's decision.

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