The Justice Department is weighing options that could include breaking up Google after a federal judge held that the tech giant and its parent company Alphabet maintained an illegal monopoly over the online search market, according to a report.
Bloomberg News reported the antitrust division at the Department of Justice (DOJ) is considering pursuing Google’s breakup as one of the potential remedies it may pursue to address the tech giant’s monopoly status, citing people with knowledge of the agency’s deliberations.
The DOJ could seek to force Google to divest its Android operating system and the Chrome web browser, while its text advertising arm AdWords could also be the subject of a divestment push, per the report. The outlet’s sources suggested that the DOJ is likely to seek restrictions on Google using exclusivity agreements to maintain its market share.
Other options the DOJ is considering, according to the Bloomberg report, include compelling Google to share more data with its competitors as well as imposing measures to stop the company from gaining an unfair advantage in artificial intelligence (AI).Â
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The report comes after a federal judge ruled earlier this month that Google had gained and illegally maintained a monopoly with about 90% of online searches and 95% of smartphone searches flowing through its search engine.
The judge noted that Google paid over $26 billion in 2021 to ensure its search engine remained the default option on web browsers and smartphones, preserving valuable market share.
| Ticker | Security | Last | Change | Change % |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| GOOGL | ALPHABET INC. | 160.37 | -3.79 | -2.31% |
Google’s stock is down over 3.2% as of mid-afternoon Wednesday.
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Google has said it plans to appeal the monopoly ruling by Judge Amit Mehta, although the judge has told the company and the DOJ to prepare for the next stage of the legal process which will involve the DOJ putting forward its proposals to address Google’s monopoly.
A Justice Department spokesperson told FOX Business, “Regarding the Google search case, the Justice Department is evaluating the court’s decision and will assess the appropriate next steps consistent with the court’s direction and the applicable legal framework for antitrust remedies. No decisions have been made at this time.”
Google did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the report.
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In the wake of last week’s ruling, Google President of Global Affairs Kent Walker said in a statement provided to FOX Business that the judge’s “decision recognizes that Google offers the best search engine, but concludes that we shouldn’t be allowed to make it easily available.”
The statement noted that the court found Google’s search engine was more widely used and delivered higher quality results than rivals and added, “Given this, and that people are increasingly looking for information in more and more ways, we plan to appeal. As this process continues, we will remain focused on making products that people find helpful and easy to use.”
The Google search monopoly case was filed in 2020 when it marked the first time in a generation that the federal government accused a major corporation of maintaining an illegal monopoly, with Microsoft facing such allegations in the mid-1990s and early 2000s.Â
Microsoft settled the Justice Department’s suit, which accused the company of forcing its Internet Explorer web browser on Windows users, in 2004.
In the last four years, federal antitrust regulators have also filed lawsuits against Meta — the parent of Facebook and Instagram — as well as Amazon and Apple over allegations the Big Tech companies have illegally maintained monopolies. Another case against Google over its advertising technology is scheduled to go to trial in September.
Reuters contributed to this report.
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