Google stew in sight. The US government wants to dismantle big tech to limit its monopoly in the online market (online searches, advertising and mobile operating systems). It could be the largest antitrust operation in decades.
The US Department of Justice reports Financial Timessent a thirty-two-page document to federal judge Amit Mehta in Washington, calling for “structural and behavioral” change measures to reduce Google’s monopoly power. Among the proposed measures is the possibility of preventing the tech giant from exploiting the synergy between its products, such as Chrome and Android, to consolidate its dominance in online searches. Another proposal involves sharing search data with rivals, thus reducing the huge competitive advantage Google holds in training generative artificial intelligence models, a fast-growing field. Prosecutors are looking at four critical areas for action: search distribution and revenue sharing, generation and display of search results, scale and monetization of online advertising, and finally, data collection and use .
Among the most severe sanctions, there is the possibility of imposing the dismemberment of Google into multiple entities, separating its search business from other services, as happened with the Microsoft case in the 1990s. Then the legal battle was lost, on appeal, by the US Department of Justice, which today sees, against Google, a new opportunity for the US government to demonstrate its determination to curb the power of big technology companies.
Today, Google drives more than 90% of online searches globally, a position that has made its parent company, Alphabet, one of the richest and most powerful companies on the planet. Google’s control also extends to the advertising market, where it uses data collected from user searches to fuel its vast digital ad network, from which it derives much of its revenue. Furthermore, Google’s presence with the Android system and the Chrome browser on billions of devices has allowed it to further strengthen its dominant position.
The investigation against Google is the result of a long investigation begun in 2019 by the Department of Justice, which accused the Mountain View company of having abused its dominant position, violating US antitrust laws. The central allegation involves the use of billion-dollar exclusive deals with manufacturers such as Apple and Samsung to keep its search engine as the default choice on mobile devices and computers, thus stifling competition. In August 2023, federal judge Amit Mehta issued a preliminary ruling confirming the charges, ruling that Google had violated antitrust laws.
Google’s response to the US Department of Justice document was not long in coming. In a statement, the company said the proposed measures could have negative consequences for innovation and competitiveness, not only in the United States but globally. The company also stressed that sharing search data with rivals could compromise user privacy and security, while separating its core products, such as Chrome and Android, could make managing cybersecurity more difficult. The company said it was ready to take its defense all the way to the Supreme Court, in a legal process that could last years.
