The US Department of Justice has published a 23-page document calling for a breakup of Google, including the sale of its Chrome web browser and significant restrictions on Android. This confirms previous reports and escalates the legal battle against the tech giant.
The Justice Department argues that selling Chrome would “permanently end Google’s control over this critical search access point,” allowing rival search engines to compete on a more level playing field. Concerning Android, the Justice Department argues that Google should stop favouring its search engine. If Google does not comply with this demand, it suggests that regulators should require Google to sell the Android operating system entirely. In addition, the Department of Justice proposes that Google syndicate search results and sell click and query data to help it compete with other search engines and emerging AI startups.
Google responded through its Keywords Blog, calling the Department of Justice proposals “stunning” and warning that they would have serious implications for consumers and U.S. tech leaders. Google’s President and General Counsel for Global Affairs Kent Walker wrote: “The DoJ chose to push a radical interventionist agenda that would harm Americans and America’s global leadership. Their overbroad proposal threatens to dismantle products beyond Search that people rely on daily.”.
In August 2023, Federal Judge Amit Mehta ruled that Google was a monopoly that used its dominant position to charge “ultra-competitive prices” for search text ads. Because Google controls about 90% of the search engine market and processes nearly 9 billion searches every day, the ruling supports the Department of Justice’s call for drastic action.
Although the proposal faces a long road of legal challenges and appeals, it could be transformative for Google and the Internet as a whole, since more than 60% of web interactions start with a search query, and most of those are conducted through Google. – It would be a structural change with potentially far-reaching effects.
