DOJ weighs suggesting Google breakup as "remedy" to search monopoly
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The Department of Justice is weighing proposing sanctions against Google that could include a breakup of the tech giant following a landmark case that found the company had illegally abused its search monopoly.
The big picture: The DOJ made the suggestion in a court filing late Tuesday that said "Google's unlawful conduct persisted for over a decade and involved a number of selfreinforcing tactics ... Unwinding that illegal behavior and achieving the goals of an effective antitrust remedy takes time."
Why it matters: A court-ordered Google breakup would be the most consequential antitrust action in the U.S. in decades and federal Judge Amit Mehta has been considering this since his August ruling, but Axios' Scott Rosenberg noted back then that figuring out how to split up the company could prove daunting.
Context: The case stems from a lawsuit first filed against Google in 2020 that alleged the company had illegal dominance in online search, basing their case mostly on the contracts between Google and Apple's Safari and Mozilla's Firefox, worth billions.
- Google has said it will appeal Mehta's ruling.
Driving the news: The DOJ said in the filing to the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia that fully "remedying" harms "requires not only ending Google's control of distribution today, but also ensuring Google cannot control the distribution of tomorrow."
- Prosecutors are "considering behavioral and structural remedies that would prevent Google from using products such as Chrome, Play, and Android to advantage Google search and Google search-related products and features — including emerging search access points and features, such as artificial intelligence — over rivals or new entrants."
What they're saying: Lee-Anne Mulholland, Google's vice president of global affairs, wrote in a blog post that the company was "concerned the DOJ is already signaling requests that go far beyond the specific legal issues in this case."
- Mulholland said the case was about "a set of search distribution" contracts.
- "Rather than focus on that, the government seems to be pursuing a sweeping agenda that will impact numerous industries and products, with significant unintended consequences for consumers, businesses, and American competitiveness," Mulholland added.
- "Splitting off Chrome or Android would break them — and many other things. ... 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."
Go deeper: Breaking up Google is hard to do
