US Justice Department Mulls Court Action to Break Google’s Search Dominance

The US Department of Justice is weighing the possibility of requesting a federal judge to compel Google to divest portions of its business to dismantle its dominance in online search.

In a recent court submission on Tuesday, federal prosecutors indicated that the judge might also consider demanding that Google disclose the foundational data it utilizes to support its widely used search engine and artificial intelligence offerings to rival companies.

The antitrust enforcers wrote in the filing, “For more than a decade, Google has controlled the most popular distribution channels, leaving rivals with little-to-no incentive to compete for users.

“Fully remedying these harms requires not only ending Google’s control of distribution today, but also ensuring Google cannot control the distribution of tomorrow.”

In order to prevent Google from exploiting its search business to its advantage, the department is contemplating the possibility of requesting structural modifications to its Android operating system, Chrome browser, AI products, or app store. In the filing, prosecutors also appear to emphasise Google’s default search agreements and have stated that any remedial proposals would aim to restrict or prohibit these agreements.

In response to the filing, Lee-Anne Mulholland, Google’s vice president of regulatory affairs, stated that the Department of Justice was already indicating requests that extended beyond the specific legal issues in this case.

She stated, “Government overreach in a fast-moving industry may have negative unintended consequences for American innovation and America’s consumers.”

In August, U.S. District Judge Amit Mehta determined that Google’s search engine has been unlawfully exploiting its dominance to impede innovation and suppress competition. He has proposed a trial for the proposed remedies in the upcoming spring and intends to render a decision by August 2025.

Google has already declared its intention to appeal Mehta’s decision; however, it is incumbent upon the tech behemoth to delay its action until Mehta issues a remedy. George Hay, a law professor at Cornell University who served as the chief economist for the Justice Department’s antitrust division for the majority of the 1970s, anticipates that the appeals process could last up to five years.

Frances Ibiefo

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