Search query: America’s goverment goes after Google

On October 20th the Department of Justice at last launched a federal antitrust lawsuit against Google. In the grand scheme, the case can seem piffling. It carves out only some alleged misdeeds in one part of the business: “general search services, search advertising, and general search text advertising”. Google denies wrongdoing. The charges cover only text search, not images or video, and makes no allegations that Google abuses its market power in digital advertising. That may be shrewd: Google has just a third of that market. The case could end in an unremarkable settlement, with Google making token changes to its behaviour and paying a fine that looks hefty only until you consider its annual net profit of $34bn. But the suit could rejuvenate America’s antitrust apparatus, decrepit after two decades of relaxed enforcement. As William Barr, America’s attorney-general, put it, “If we let Google continue its anticompetitive ways, Americans may never get to benefit from the ‘next Google’.”

query: 疑问，询问
antitrust：反垄断的
scheme：计划，方案，体系，体制，阴谋
piffling：渺小的，微不足道的
carve out：分割，（努力）创造出，打拼出
misdeed：恶行
abuse：滥用
shrewd：精明的
settlement：（解决纷争的）协议
token：代币，专用辅币
hefty：很大的，超出一般的，可观的
rejuvenate：使更有活力
apparatus：（尤指政党或政府的）机构，组织
decrepit：衰老的，老朽的，破旧的
enforcement：执行
attorney-general：总检察长，司法部长
anticompetitive：反竞争的，反竞争行为