Google Might Be Forced to Break up Its Business After Epic Defeat in Antitrust Case
- US District Judge Amit Mehta is planning to force Google to sell off parts of its business to abolish its ongoing monopoly in the search engine industry.
- Google controls more than 90% of the online search industry. However, the court ruled that it achieved this dominance through unfair means. A few structural changes have been ordered.
- Google disagrees with the ruling and has decided to appeal against it.
In a landmark judgement, the US government is contemplating forcing Google to break up parts of its business to abolish its illegal monopoly in the online search industry.
The US Department of Justice announced this decision in a Tuesday court filing, following the ruling of US District Judge Amit Mehta in Google's antitrust case. A more detailed proposal will be filed by November 20, and the company will then have until December 20 to propose its own remedies.
Google is the number one search engine right now, with more than 90% of the industry under its wing. However, the strategies it used to gain such a staggering amount of control over the market are allegedly unethical.For instance, Google was found to be paying phone manufacturers to make its search engine the default option in their devices. This discovery was made in the iconic antitrust court ruling in August that found the company guilty of creating an illegal monopoly and abusing its dominant position in the market.
What Are the Proposed Google Break-Up' Changes?The case has revealed that Google often uses its own products, such as Google Play and Google Chrome, to advantage its own search business. This will have to stop. Google's search business will be completely separated from its browser, app store, and Android.
The tech giant might also be forced to reveal the data it has used to build its search engine and upcoming AI products. Considering the amount of control the company has on the market, the authorities are worried that it might try to establish a dominant position in the AI industry as well.
Google's ability to leverage its monopoly power to feed artificial intelligence features is an emerging barrier to competition and risks further entrenching Google's dominance," the judge said in a filing.
The most important change, however, is that Google will be forced to end all agreements with phone manufacturers to pre-install its apps on their devices. This is admittedly a notorious habit of the tech giant.For instance, in 2021 alone, it invested over $26.3 billion in contracts with Apple and other phone manufacturers to make Google Chrome the default search engine in their devices. This makes it difficult for rival search engines to gain a footing in the market and also takes away the right of users to make an independent, uninfluenced choice.
So, the judge has recommended adding a choice screen" in the beginning of an Android phone's setup process, where users can select which browser they want to use as default right out of the gate.A few of the smaller rivals of Google, such as Yelp, adMarketplace, and DuckDuckGo, are also appealing to force Google into selling parts of its business. A decision hasn't yet been made in this regard, though.
What Does Google Have to Say About This?Google has promised to appeal against this decision, calling it too radical." The company maintains that it has managed to gain this dominant position in the industry by consistently offering quality service.
It also added that there are many other platforms, such as Amazon, that give it tough competition. Plus, no user is forced to use Google Chrome as their default browser; they're free to switch to another browser.The tech giant also feels that the proposed changes might hamper innovation, especially in the AI industry, and might expose people's data to third parties, undermining their privacy. All in all, the company says that there's a lot at stake.
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