The U.S. Department of Justice (DoJ) is considering forcing Google to break up, or to make significant changes to how it does business, just weeks after a judge ruled that the search engine giant had acted illegally to maintain its monopoly.
There are about 8.5 billion searches on Google every day, which equates to around 90% of the global online search market. But the DoJ is now weighing up measures, including “structural requirements,” that could see the company being “asked” to divest its smartphone Android operating system or its Chrome browser. It could also be required to make its search data available to rivals, and barred from paying other tech firms to have its search engine pre-installed on new devices.
Google has expectedly dismissed these ideas as “radical,” adding that they “go far beyond the specific legal issues in this case.” They could, of course, radically shrink the revenue of parent company Alphabet, while granting its competitors room to grow.
BBC technology editor Zoe Kleinman also described such a move as “complicated,” but added that it would “make a huge statement.”
The regulatory tide worldwide appears to be turning against U.S. big tech.
Antitrust reporter Khushita Vasant said that while the DoJ is “technically” considering a break-up, she “doubt[s]” whether such an action will be followed through. Indeed, U.S. antitrust enforcers have not broken up a company in 40 years.
DoJ officials are expected to submit a more detailed set of proposals by November 20th. Google has also been given the opportunity to submit its own proposed remedies by December 20th.
