Google Breakup to End Monopoly; US Federal Court Forcing Google to Sell Chrome
The U.S. regulators and Department of Justice purposed remedies to put a stop at Google’s monopoly in the search engine industry. The DOJ asked federal court to force google to sell chrome.
In the latest search engine news updates, The U.S. Justice Department filed a 23-page document with a federal court on November 20 asking the court to force Google to sell its 16-year-old search engine, Chrome. This move could reshape the entire search industry. The document also seeks restrictions on Google’s Android operating system.
The Justice department lawyers in their filing said, “Fully remedying these harms requires not only ending Google’s control of distribution today, but also ensuring Google cannot control the distribution of tomorrow.”
The reason behind the request
This request is filed after district court of the Columbia’s judge Amit Mehta in August in his ruling regarding google being a monopolist. The Justice Department and states had sued Google, accusing it of illegally cementing its dominance, in part, by paying other companies, like Apple and Samsung, billions of dollars a year to have Google automatically handle search queries on their smartphones and web browsers.
What did the Judge say in his ruling?
Image Source: https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2024/08/05/technology/google-antitrust-ruling.html
What remedies Justice Department suggested
- To cease Google’s agreement with firms like Apple & Samsung, which designate Google’s search engine as default in their smart phones and browsers.
- Restricting Google to prioritize its services like YouTube and Gemini in search results.
- Allowing competitors to access Google’s vast search data to implement their search offerings.
Impact of these remedies
If these measures are implemented this will significantly impact on Google’s business. Google’s business is expected to generate a revenue of $300 Billion this year. According to Statcounter, a web traffic analysis platform, Google’s search engine accounts for about 90% of all online searches globally.
Google’s response
Google said that with its proposals, the DOJ “chose to push a radical interventionist agenda that would harm Americans and America’s global technology leadership.”
“[The] DOJ’s wildly overbroad proposal goes miles beyond the Court’s decision,” said Kent Walker, president of global affairs at Google.
“It would break a range of Google products — even beyond Search — that people love and find helpful in their everyday lives.”
Google is expected to counter with its remedies on 20th December.
Administrations
The Department of Justice has filed this case against Google in the closing months of Donald Trump’s first administration period.
Donald Trump is all set to return to White House on 20th January for his new administration. Trump’s approach towards this case is not clear yet and is doubtful. “It would be odd for the second Trump administration to back off a lawsuit that they filed themselves,” said Rebecca Allensworth, associate dean for research and anti-trust professor at Vanderbilt Law School.
