US officials have confirmed they are considering asking a federal judge to break up the tech giant Google to attempt to end its “illegal monopoly” over internet searches.
The Department of Justice said that the US government is weighing up whether to seek structural changes to Google’s products – including its Chrome browser, Play Store and Android operating system.
Back in August, a judge found the multi-billion dollar company had broken antitrust laws to dominate online searches.
In light of this, officials have outlined a series of proposals to take apart the company’s monopoly in a court filing. The US government have also accused the company of causing “pernicious harm” to Americans.
In court papers filed late Tuesday, government lawyers outlined a series of potential remedies it may pursue, including restrictions on how Google’s artificial intelligence mines other websites to deliver search results, and blocking Google from paying companies like Apple billions of dollars annually to ensure that Google is the default search engine presented to consumers on gadgets like iPhones.
If the case goes ahead and is accepted by a judge, it would potentially represent the biggest regulatory intervention in the history of big tech.
Google has described the proposals as “radical” and “sweeping” and claims they would “risk hurting consumers, businesses, and developers”.
In a blog post, the firm also claimed that if companies such as Samsung and Apple were to be separated from Google this would result in increased prices within the market.
It also claims that the online advertising market is already competitive, and cited a Wall Street Journal article as evidence of this. The article, headlined “Google’s Grip on Search Slips as TikTok and AI Startup Mount Challenge” details how people are turning to TikTok and Amazon to search.
The same piece also said Google still had more than 50 percent of the ad search market, however.
In 2021, the firm paid out more than $26bn to companies such as iPhone maker Apple as part of the practice.
A spokesperson for the DoJ 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.”
In a separate case on Monday this week, Google was ordered to open up its app store to greater competition, which included making Android apps available from rival sources.
Judge James Donato ordered the motion and said the company needed to stop demanding its own payment system to be used to purchase apps on the Play Store.
The ruling was in relation to a court battle between Google and Epic Games, which makes the popular video game Fortnite, over in-app payments.
