The US Government is considering asking a judge to force Google to break up its business to avoid a monopoly on online searches. After a landmark ruling in August, the DOJ (Department of Justice) is considering ways to continue to limiting Google’s dominance. After showing that Google hosts 90% of online searches, the DOJ won a suit in August. The parent company, Alphabet, was found guilty of creating an illegal monopoly and forcing out competition.
As The Guardian wrote, “it was paying tens of billions of dollars a year to companies…that distribute search engines to make sure that it was the only search engine consumers saw.”
The DOJ began the outline of their proposed remedy with, “Google’s anticompetitive conduct resulted in interlocking and pernicious harms that present unprecedented complexities in a highly evolving set of markets. These markets are indispensable to the lives of all Americans, whether as individuals or as business owners, and the importance of effectively unfettering these markets and restoring competition cannot be overstated.”
A few proposals from the plaintiff involve limiting Google’s dominance on Play Store and Android. They are also considering disallowing them to pay companies like Apple to have their apps and services preinstalled on phones. A more detailed remedy will be released towards the end of November. Google will also provide remedies on December 20th.
The Justice Department further said, “Fully remedying these harms requires not only ending Google’s control of distribution today, but also ensuring Google cannot control the distribution of tomorrow.” With artificial intelligence, it is important to limit Google’s dominance and provide remedies to limit a monopoly in the future.
Google plans to appeal the decision. In a blog post, they wrote, “We believe that today’s blueprint goes well beyond the legal scope of the Court’s decision about Search distribution contracts. Government overreach in a fast-moving industry may have negative unintended consequences for American innovation and America’s consumers.”
Referencing a recent study that showed Generation Z is googling less, Google pointed out that they do face competition. Generation Z are instead using sites like TikTok or Instagram to search. Despite the study, 50% of younger people still google, as well as much higher percentages in older generations. The judge ruled the billion-dollar search engine company has made it impossible for others to reach prominence in the industry.
The DOJ also believes fairer competition in the market will bring better services to consumers. If consumers are really using Google because its services are better, why does the quality appear to be deteriorating? There is a lack of innovation and advancement when a company attains monopoly status.
The outcome of this case could show how the US government will handle the tech industry going forward. How much of the proposed remedies the judge accepts will likely impact other tech giants. Similar cases are being made against Meta, Apple, and Amazon with similar outcomes expected. The remedies proposed go far beyond financial fines. More suggestions will follow as they attempt to rein in monopoly tech companies before they can gain further advantage with AI.