University of Missouri Law Professor Thom Lambert criticized the Department of Justice’s recent motion “to limit Google’s ability to use evidence of product quality” as a complete defense in its upcoming trial about Google Search.

The motion begs the questions: Why does the DOJ want to bar Google from showing how its practices help American consumers? Is the agency asking companies to sacrifice product quality to help competitors?

Key points from Professor Lambert’s analysis:

— “Antitrust doesn’t require firms, even dominant ones, to sacrifice product quality to make it easier for their rivals to compete.”

— “If Google’s scale enhancements are allowing it to offer a better product, it’s just competing on the merits. That’s procompetitive, not anticompetitive.”

— “In arguing that Google should pull its punches [and] thereby impair the quality of its offering in order to boost its rivals’ prospects, DOJ is seeking to protect competitors, not competition.”

— “The court will see this motion for what it is: a desperate effort to prevent Google from showing how it is competing on the merits, and benefiting consumers, by enhancing the quality of its offering.“

To learn more about the case, click here.