The U.S. Justice Department on Tuesday filed an antitrust lawsuit against Google LLC, alleging that the technology behemoth has unlawfully monopolized online search services to harm competitors and consumers.

In what can be seen as a landmark antitrust action against a technology firm, marking the first such case since Microsoft Corp. was sued in 1998, the Justice Department said it is again enforcing the antitrust law to "restore the role of competition and open the door to the next wave of innovation."

Google immediately criticized the move, saying in a statement that the lawsuit is "deeply flawed" and "would do nothing to help consumers."

"People use Google because they choose to, not because they're forced to, or because they can't find alternatives," the company said, warning that the latest government action may "artificially prop up lower-quality search alternatives" and make it harder for people to get the search services they want to use.

As one of the world's wealthiest companies with a market value of $1 trillion, Google has been a gatekeeper to the internet for billions of users and countless advertisers globally, according to the department.

But Google has entered into "a series of exclusionary agreements" that collectively lock up the primary avenues through which users access search engines, and thus the internet, by requiring that the company be set as the default general search engine on billions of mobile devices and computers worldwide, it said.

"The end result is that no one can feasibly challenge Google's dominance in search and search advertising," the department said, adding that the lack of competition harms users, advertisers and small businesses in the form of fewer choices, reduced quality, higher advertising prices and less innovation.

Attorney General William Barr said in a statement that Google was able to grow from a small start-up to an internet giant after Microsoft was sued by the Justice Department more than 20 years ago, which paved the way for increased competition.

"Unfortunately, once Google itself gained dominance, it resorted to the same anticompetitive playbook. If we let Google continue its anticompetitive ways, we will lose the next wave of innovators and Americans may never get to benefit from the 'next Google,'" he said.

"The time has come to restore competition to this vital industry," Barr added.

The lawsuit, joined by eleven states, was filed with the federal district court in Washington.