The US Department of Justice (DOJ) is demanding Google to sell Chrome and comply with other remedies to dismantle its Search monopoly after an antitrust case victory; Google says the DOJ proposal is a government overreach and would harm consumers.
Judge considers Google breakup
In August of this year, US District Judge Amit Mehta ruled Google had violated antitrust laws and was running a monopoly by paying billions of dollars to smartphone makers to ensure Chrome was the default browser.
Judge Metha said at the time:
- “Google is a monopolist, and it has acted as one to maintain its monopoly.”
Google contested the ruling and said, with a hint of sarcasm:
- “We appreciate the Court’s finding that Google is ‘the industry’s highest quality search engine, which has earned Google the trust of hundreds of millions of daily users’, that Google ‘has long been the best search engine, particularly on mobile devices,’ that Google ‘has continued to innovate in search,’ and that ‘Apple and Mozilla occasionally assess Google’s search quality relative to its rivals and find Google’s to be superior.”
At the time of the ruling, Judge Metha didn`t say what remedies he would implement to curb Google’s market dominance.
The DOJ, however, had their ideas on what those remedies should be.
DOJ’s proposed remedies
The DOJ has asked Judge Metha to enforce the sale of Chrome, saying it serves to fortify Google’s search market dominance and to ban its deals with Android makers and Apple as their default search browser.
The Department of Justice wrote in its filing:
- “To address these challenges, Google must divest Chrome, which has ‘fortified Google’s dominance,’ so that rivals may pursue distribution partnerships that this ‘reality of control’ today prevents.”
Google Condemns Chrome sale
Google condemned the DOJ’s request to enforce the sale of Chrome, saying it was a “radical interventionist agenda” that would jeopardize the US economy and undermine its global technology leadership.
Kent Walker, Google’s President of Global Affairs, wrote:
- “DOJ’s approach would result in unprecedented government overreach that would harm American consumers, developers, and small businesses — and jeopardize America’s global economic and technological leadership at precisely the moment it’s needed most.”
DOJ seeking total break-up
After August’s ruling against Google for running a monopoly, the Department of Justice made no secret it was seeking the company’s break-up and that enforcing the sale of Chrome was only the first step.
While the sale of Chrome could reshape the digital advertising landscape as it’s the default browser on iPhones and many smartphones, the DOJ isn`t stopping there.
The DOJ’s proposed remedies include the enforced sale of Chrome, restricting Google’s use of AI content, banning exclusive browser contracts, and separating Android from Google Play and Search.
The DOJ said:
- “This would prevent Google from using products such as Chrome, Play [its app store], and Android to advantage Google search and Google search-related products.”
Google’s President of Global Affairs, Kent Walker, said the proposed remedies would:
- “Break a range of Google products — even beyond Search — that people love and find helpful in their everyday lives.”
Google’s response
Google has denied many of the accusations levied against it in the US and the EU and is fighting multiple court cases simultaneously. And while the tech giant had some recent wins by delaying opening its Play Store app to competitors and having an EU fine overturned, it’s losing ground on other fronts.
In response to the DOJ’s request to “break off” parts of the company, Google said it would devastate the tech giant and raise consumer prices.
Google’s official response was:
- “Breaking them off would change their business models, raise the cost of devices, and undermine Android and Google Play in their robust competition with Apple’s iPhone and App Store.”
Google’s vice president of regulatory affairs, Lee-Anne Mulholland, had this to say about the DOJ:
- “It continues to push a radical agenda that goes far beyond the legal issues in this case.”
Ending on a political note, enforcing the sale of Chrome would be the current administration’s most significant win in its crusade to break up what it calls “Big Tech monopolies,” but with Trump heading back to the White House, whether it’ll happen is anyone`s guess.
