This move adds to a growing chorus of criticism against Google which has recently been faced with similar accusations in other legal challenges.

“Today, Yelp filed an antitrust lawsuit against Google in federal court in San Francisco. Our case is about Google, the largest information gatekeeper in existence, putting its heavy thumb on the scale to stifle competition and keep consumers within its own walled garden,” wrote Stoppelman in an August 28 post.

“Abandoning its stated mission to deliver the best information to users, Google has illegally abused its monopoly in general search to dominate the local search and local search advertising markets—engaging in anticompetitive conduct that has degraded the quality of search results and demoted rivals to grow its market power,” Stoppelman wrote.

“Yelp has long fought to make Google’s local search experience more helpful for consumers and create a level playing field for competing vertical search services,” the post said.

“After having carefully considered and weighed the witness testimony and evidence, the court reaches the following conclusion: Google is a monopolist, and it has acted as one to maintain its monopoly,” US District Judge Amit Mehta wrote in the court opinion. “It has violated Section 2 of the Sherman Act.”

“Google has long been the dominant ‘gatekeeper’ in general search, with approximately 90% share of the market, said the post. “Its monopoly in general search — which Google was recently found to have illegally maintained through exclusive multi-billion dollar arrangements with browser makers, device manufacturers, and cellular carriers — allows it to control what consumers see and where they see it.”

“Google’s strategy is part of a deliberate plot to self-preference its own products in all aspects of search, no matter the attendant costs to consumers or market effects. It openly admits that its policy is to put its own products ahead of competitors, regardless of quality,” said the lawsuit.

The company is also seeking an injunction to stop Google from “anti-competitive practices” that they are also harmed by.

“Google has engaged, and continues to engage, in the acts or practices described herein, which are unfair, irrespective of the violation of any other law, and which constitute unfair competition within the meaning of section 17200 of the Business and Professions Code,” the lawsuit said.

“For 20 years, Yelp has focused on our mission to connect consumers with great local businesses,” said the blog post. “We believe our lawsuit takes a critical step towards a level playing field in which Yelp and other local search providers can effectively compete, and provide consumers with the best local search experience.”

“Yelp’s claims are not new. Similar claims were thrown out years ago by the FTC (Federal Trade Commission), and recently by the judge in the DOJ’s (Department of Justice’s) case. On the other aspects of the decision to which Yelp refers, we are appealing. Google will vigorously defend against Yelp’s meritless claims,” a Google spokesperson said in an August 28 statement.

“Yelp complaining about review promotion manipulation is [hilarious],” said a Reddit user. “Yelp allows businesses to pay them to remove reviews. They have no legitimacy,” said another user.