The US Department of Justice on Tuesday said it would demand that Google make profound changes to how it does business and even consider the possibility of a breakup, after the tech juggernaut was found to be running an illegal monopoly.
Determining how to address Google’s wrongs is the next stage of a landmark antitrust trial that saw the company in August judged a monopolist by US District Court Judge Amit Mehta.
An order to break up Google or require deep changes on how it does business marks a profound change by the US government’s competition enforcers that have largely left tech giants alone since failing to break up Microsoft Corp two decades ago.
Photo: Reuters
The government told the judge in a court filing that it was considering options that included “structural” changes, which could see them asking for a divestment of its smartphone Android operating system or its Chrome browser.
The Department of Justice also said it could ask for the prohibition of Google’s default agreements with third parties that see it pay tens of billions of US dollars every year to Apple Inc.
Requiring Google to make its search data available to rivals was also on the table, it said.
This case, focusing on Google’s search engine dominance, is part of a broader legal offensive against the company’s alleged antitrust violations in the US. Google faces additional challenges from the department regarding its advertising technology and recently lost a jury trial to Fortnite-maker Epic Games Inc over its Google Play store practices.
The department’s remedy proposals are part of a “high-level framework” outlining how it envisions implementing the court’s verdict. A more detailed request would be submitted next month, followed by arguments from both sides in a special hearing scheduled for April next year.
Google, in a blog post, criticized the government’s proposed remedies as “radical” and expressed concern that the department’s requests “go far beyond the specific legal issues in this case.”
Regardless of Mehta’s eventual decision, Google is expected to appeal, potentially prolonging the process for years and possibly reaching the US Supreme Court.
The filing came just a day after a US court on Monday ordered Google to open Android to rival app stores, the result of the company’s defeat in the Epic Games case.
Google is appealing the order, which could reshape the mobile app landscape in the coming years.
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