A key question in Google’s trial: How formidable is its data advantage?

The federal government’s first monopoly trial of the modern internet era is less than a week old, but already a central character has emerged: data. Its role, its use and its power are key issues in the Justice Department’s case against Google.

The government claims that Google bribed and bullied smartphone producers such as Apple and Samsung and the browser-maker Mozilla to be their featured search engine, funneling far more data to Google and cutting off competitors.