The Big Number: $1.7 Trillion

The biggest U.S. antitrust case in 25 years, set to begin next week, strikes at the heart of the empire that Alphabet, Google’s parent company, built over decades.

Alphabet hit a $1 trillion market cap in January 2020, a milestone that only Apple, Amazon and Microsoft have reached. At the time, Alphabet was facing several different legal and regulatory challenges — but this latest court battle is its most significant yet.

The Justice Department argues that Google illegally abused its agreements with phone makers and browsers to become the default search engine, quashing its rivals.

Those monopolistic practices are how Google got so big, the government says, as the company became synonymous with looking up information on the web. Google has cornered 90 percent of the search engine market in the United States, according to one data firm.

If Google loses the case, the company could be forced to pay damages and limit its search distribution deals, leading to fewer users and a drop in its robust profits.

And not only could a ruling against Google sap it of its power and influence, the case could also have a ripple effect on other large internet companies that have enjoyed decades of almost unfettered growth.