The notion that competition is a click away is ridiculous when you look at all the infrastructure Google builds to make any algorithm work at scale. Its no different then saying, "Building a better Operating System is just a program away." Google is the de-facto standard and that gives it a huge amount of power, just like Microsoft on the desktop.

Windows was a de facto standard on the desktop because it was the de facto developer platform and so it was the only choice for a reasonable consumer experience. Search on the other hand is user facing, and as Microsoft keeps telling us search engines are basically the same. Oh, and they're all free.

The point is they are both de facto platforms. The fact that its free is irrelevant, its not like its a non-profit, they are just making money via advertising instead of directly from a consumer.

Of course the fact that it's free is relevant, your argument is about switching costs and in this case the costs are literally nil. Also their search is not a platform it's a service (no API).

Switching costs for consumers are nil, but what about for advertisers and publishers?

"Google contributes to open source software in a very significant manner and completely voluntary"

So what, that means they can't break the law?

Who said they broke the law? I'm no expert on antitrust law but as I understand the FTC will basically try to argue a theory in front of a judge, and if it's indeed concerning which results rank where it's not a particularly strong theory.

At this point it's really inertia that is keeping the FTC on track towards a lawsuit.

"Who said they broke the law?"

Stop moving goalposts, grandparent was clearly peddling what amounts to an "upstanding member of the community" defense.

I'm not claiming Google broke any law, but they're not above the law, they can get investigated like anyone else.

Not sure if you've noticed but they are being investigated. Investigations however do not imply guilt, and this is not a criminal investigation so it's not analogous to your example.

There is no clear and shut case here, no evidence of cartel-like behaviour or raising prices on consumers. The FTC will hire an economist who will argue that exists "market failure", Google will in turn hire several economists, scholars, and law firms to prove them wrong.