The U.S. Department of Justice is calling for the breakup of Google and for Google to sell its Chrome browser. This comes following a ruling last August that the company holds an unfair monopoly in the search market.
The proposed breakup is suggested in a 23-page document filed this past Wednesday by the U.S. Justice Department. It calls for Google to sell its ubiquitous Chrome web browser, which Google launched in 2008. It imposes further restrictions which would prevent its Android smartphone software from favoring the Google search engine.
The DOJ’s request represents the agency’s most aggressive attempt to break up a tech company since its antitrust case against Microsoft in 2001.
“To remedy these harms, the [Initial Proposed Final Judgment] requires Google to divest Chrome, which will permanently stop Google’s control of this critical search access point and allow rival search engines the ability to access the browser that for many users is a gateway to the internet,” the 23-page filing reads.
The filing continues: “The proposed remedies are designed to end Google’s unlawful practices and open up the market for rivals and new entrants to emerge.”
The Justice Department filing calls for the judge to compel Google to:
- Sell its industry-leading Chrome web browser
- Impose restrictions designed to prevent its Android smartphone software from favoring the Google search engine.
- To share data it collects from people’s queries with its competitors.
- Be prevented from entering into exclusionary agreements with third parties like Apple and Samsung.
- Be prohibited from giving its search service preference within its other products.
- Prevent Google from eliminating “emerging competitive threats through acquisitions, minority investments, or partnerships.”
- Provide a technical committee with a monthly report detailing any changes to its search text ads auctions.
The measures threaten to significantly upend a business that is expected to generate more than $300 billion in revenue this year.
The recommended penalties underscore how severely regulators operating under President Biden believe Google should be punished following an August ruling by U.S. District Judge Amit Mehta that concluded Google was an unfair monopoly. It’s unclear whether the Justice Department under Trump will be as motivated. Court hearings are scheduled to begin in April in Washington, D.C. Mehta is aiming to issue his final decision before Labor Day.
If Mehta embraces the Justice Department’s recommendations, Google will almost certainly appeal the punishments, prolonging a legal battle that has been going on for more than four years.
Search advertising accounted for $49.4 billion in revenue in Google’s parent company Alphabet’s third quarter, representing three-quarters of total ad sales in the period.