The US Department of Justice is proposing a significant overhaul of Google’s structure and practices in an effort to end its monopoly on internet search. This comes after a federal judge ruled in August that Google maintained an illegal monopoly over search services.
The proposed changes include the sale of the Chrome browser, a five-year ban on entering the browser market, and a block on paying third parties to make Google the default search engine on their products. If these initial proposals do not work, Google may also be required to divest the Android mobile operating system.
The DoJ is also pushing for Google to give publishers the ability to block their data from being used to train its artificial intelligence models and for its search index to be available to rivals. These proposals will be considered by Judge Amit Mehta next year, alongside any remedies that Google may propose.
Google, which controls about 90% of the online search market and over 50% of the US browser market with Chrome, has called the proposed remedies “staggering and extreme”. However, the DoJ believes that restoring competition in the search market is essential.
The attitude towards the case of president-elect Joe Biden is also a key factor, as it will come under the oversight of a new administration. Although the case was originally brought by the Trump administration, Biden has made public comments expressing scepticism about breaking up Google. He has also raised concerns about the fairness of Google’s search results.
The outcome of this case will have significant implications for the future of Google and the search market as a whole.
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