The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) on Tuesday proposed significant recommendations regarding Google’s search engine business practices, hinting at a potential breakup of the tech giant as a remedy for antitrust concerns.
This was disclosed in a 32-page lawsuit filed at the United States District Court for the District of Columbia. The DOJ’s filing indicated necessary remedies to prevent and restrain Google’s monopoly maintenance.
Part of the lawsuit reads,
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“In order to address Google’s offenses, the remedies here should account for alternative and future forms of monopoly maintenance in the affected markets and reasonably related markets in addition to the specific conduct to date. It is therefore critical that any remedy carefully consider both past, present, and emerging market realities to ensure that robust competition, not Google’s past monopolization, will govern the evolution of general search and text advertising. To attain these goals, remedies, and laws related to similar conduct in other jurisdictions must also be considered to determine what measures this Court should impose to prevent Google from maintaining its monopolies in the future through conduct that evades or circumvents the Court’s final remedy order.
“With the governing legal framework and complex market dynamics in mind, and consistent with the Court’s September 18 Order, Plaintiffs are currently considering remedies to address four categories of harms related to Google’s (1) search distribution and revenue sharing, (2) generation and display of search results, (3) advertising scale and monetization, and (4) accumulation and use of data. For each area, the remedies necessary to prevent and restrain monopoly maintenance could include contract requirements and prohibitions; non-discrimination product requirements; data and interoperability requirements; and structural requirements.”
Notably, the Plaintiffs have initiated discovery efforts to ensure that the proposed Final Judgment, including any specific remedies, effectively addresses the harms caused by Google’s unlawful conduct, considering current market realities.
The DOJ also mentioned it is considering structural changes to prevent Google from leveraging products such as Chrome, Android, and Play Store to give undue advantage to its search services, including emerging Al-powered search technologies. Moreover, the agency recommended limiting Google’s default agreements, like those with Apple and Samsung, which cost the company billions in payouts, and suggested introducing a “choice screen” allowing users to pick from alternative search engines.
These remedies are designed to curtail Google’s control over search distribution and prevent it from dominating future technologies. The recommendations follow an August ruling by a U.S. judge that Google holds a monopoly in the search market, violating Section 2 of the Sherman Act.
The final decision on these remedies won’t come until a court ruling by August 2025, and any appeal by Google could prolong the case. Although some legal experts believe the court may push for an end to Google’s exclusive agreements, a complete breakup of the company seems unlikely.
The proposed break up of Google is coming after the tech giant in September 2024, lodged an antitrust complaint with the European Commission, accusing Microsoft of employing unfair licensing contracts to suppress competition in the lucrative cloud-computing industry. According to Google’s allegations, it claims that Microsoft uses restrictive licensing terms to “lock in” clients and dominate the cloud market.
After a federal judge declared Google’s search engine a monopoly, the Justice Department has made recommendations for how to fix it, including possibly breaking up the tech giant. U.S. District Judge Amit Mehta found in August that, by paying billions to operators of web browsers and phone makers to be their default search engine, Google cornered the market. Regulators, who have also targeted its online ad business on antitrust grounds, in a new filing have outlined proposals including potentially ending exclusive agreements with Apple and Samsung, or restricting data tracking. Google said some of the proposals could hurt businesses and consumers.