How the Google Antitrust Trial Is Already Changing Online Search

A decade ago, when Microsoft Corp. was reined in by the Justice Department, a prominent Silicon Valley attorney popularized a theory about antitrust cases: “The trial is the remedy.”

The theory meant that forcing a monopolist to defend its conduct could open up space for other companies, particularly newcomers, to innovate in a market. And today, it’s happening with Alphabet Inc.’s Google.

Just as Microsoft is believed to have missed the technology world’s move to mobile platforms because it was so focused on its own monopoly case with the Justice Department, testimony and internal documents suggest Google ...