The U.S. government is looking into possibly breaking up the world’s largest search engine, Google. According to the government, the basis is that Google is causing “pernicious harms” to Americans. Considerations include “structural requirements” to prevent Google from maintaining its internet search monopoly.
A landmark court ruling in August found that Google illegally crushed its online search competition. If the DoJ pushes ahead with the proposed remedies and the judge accepts those remedies, this breakup would represent the most extensive regulatory intervention in the history of big tech.
Google is the go-to search engine for internet users across the globe, accounting for approximately 90% of all online searches. The DoJ has accused Google of using its Chrome browser and Android operating system to funnel users to its search engine, where it makes money by selling adverts.
“Google’s unlawful conduct persisted for over a decade and involved a number of self-reinforcing tactics,” the DoJ said in the court filing. The result of Google’s actions is that potential competitors cannot get a foothold in the online search market, and the lack of competition has allowed Google to charge abnormally high prices for ads “while degrading the quality of those ads and the related services.”
The DoJ’s potential moves include “remedies that would prevent Google from using products such as Chrome, Play [its app store], and Android to advantage Google search and Google search-related products.” The DoJ is expected to submit a more detailed proposal by November 20th, and Google will be able to submit its own proposed remedies by December 20th.
Not surprisingly, Google disagrees with the case. Google’s vice president of regulatory affairs, Lee-Anne Mulholland, said that the recommendations constitute “government overreach” and could result in higher consumer prices in a blog post.
Ms Mulholland claimed that Google makes its Chrome browser and Android operating system free since they are gateways to “help people access the web and use our products.” She asserts that Chrome and the Android OS would have to start making money in their own right, leading to increased prices if separated from Google. She also argued that they effectively subsidize those products by paying companies such as Apple and Samsung billions of dollars a year to be the default search engine on their devices. If Google stops paying, the prices of those products would go up, she said.
Google cites a Wall Street Journal article that says online advertising is competitive and that more people are turning to TikTok and Amazon to search instead. The same article indicates that Google still has over 50% of the ad search market.
