The US Department of Justice (DoJ) has asked a federal judge to break up Google, forcing the company to sell its most popular browser – Chrome to restore fair competition in the online search market. The department has filed a 23-page document calling for sweeping corrective measures, including data sharing and providing search results access to competitors, reports AP. The proposal also seeks to impose restrictions on Google designed to prevent its Android smartphone software from favoring its search engine.
The efforts to break up Google echo a similar penalty imposed on Microsoft 25 years ago after an antitrust trial, where a federal judge ruled that the software giant had unlawfully used its Windows operating system to suppress competition.
What DoJ says
In its recommendations, the DoJ said “The playing field is not level because of Google’s conduct, and Google’s quality reflects the ill-gotten gains of an advantage illegally acquired.” It added “The remedy must close this gap and deprive Google of these advantages.”
In addition to calling for a Chrome spinoff and more control over Android, the Justice Department is also urging the U.S. District Judge Amit Mehta to prevent Google from securing multibillion-dollar agreements that make its search engine the default on Apple iPhones and other devices.
For those unaware, judge Mehta ruled in August that Google illegally maintained an illegal monopoly in online search and related advertising. Google will have a chance to present its own proposals in December.
What it may mean for Google
If implemented, these measures could disrupt a business projected to generate over $300 billion in revenue this year—a profitable engine that has fueled the success of Google’s parent company, Alphabet Inc. Google, which controls about 90% of the online search market and 95% on smartphones, may be regulated for 10 years, subjecting it to oversight by the same Washington federal court that ruled the company monopolistic.
The case was originally filed during the final months of Trump’s first term in office and carried forward under President Biden. Recently, Trump expressed concerns that a breakup might destroy Google but didn’t elaborate on the alternative penalties he might have in mind. “What you can do without breaking it up is make sure it’s more fair,” Trump said in October during an interview.