By Marty Swant

Data and oil have often been compared in the internet economy, but the commodities now share a new parallel this week as the U.S. government takes Google to trial under the antitrust framework it used to break up Standard Oil well over a century ago.

As the U.S. vs. Google trial continues to unfold this week, observers will be hearing a lot about the Sherman Antitrust Act of 1890, a law passed by Congress at the height of the Gilded Age. Named after its proposer, U.S. Senator John Sherman, the law sought to prevent so-called robber barons of the booming railroad and steel industries and others from hurting business competition and consumer pricing by the monopolizing the markets. For historical context, the Sherman Act passed the same year as the death of Vincent Van Gogh, the premiere of Tchaikovsky’s ballet “Sleeping Beauty,” and the admissions of Idaho and Wyoming as the 43rd and 44th states.

Unlike the word “Google,” the term “Sherman Act” isn’t a household name. According to Google Trends data, only 61 people searched for “Sherman Act” the last week of August — just a few dozen searches less than the week the DOJ brought a second antitrust case against Google in late January. (The one that goes to trial this week was originally filed under the Trump Administration in 2020.)

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Source:: Digiday

Author: Aaron