WASHINGTON (Diya TV) — The U.S. Department of Justice on Tuesday advanced an unprecedented antitrust push to break up Google, elevating its battle with the search giant over its virtual monopoly in online search. The regulators urged a judge to order the internet giant to spin off its Chrome browser, saying that Google’s control over the browser and its search engine gives it an unfair advantage over competitors.
The Justice Department says Google’s dominance in online search is an outgrowth of anti-competitive practices that crush competition. It claims that by maintaining Chrome as a key portal for users of the Internet, Google effectively locks its competitors out of the search ecosystem. Following this is the most important ruling this year by U.S. District Judge Amit Mehta, declaring Google a monopolist in its search business and thus supporting necessary corrective action.
Along with the Chrome sale, regulators have been pushing for several other competitive-rebalancing measures, such as forcing Google to share its search index and change its distribution deals with companies like Apple. The latter deals, which secure Google’s place as the default search engine on countless devices, have long been seen as a primary method of keeping rivals at bay.
There is also criticism coming from the scale of the remedies proposed by the government. Google has been highly opposed, with their lawyers warning that these kinds of actions would damage users and stifle innovation, especially in artificial intelligence, an area in which the company emerged as a leader. The Chief Legal Officer of Google, Kent Walker, described this move as an overreach, to the effect that it would undermine Google’s ability to compete globally and damage the technological advances made.
Despite those objections, the case represents a landmark step in the broader push for enhanced antitrust enforcement against the larger Big Tech firms. Despite this draconian remedy, specialists say that the courts are unlikely to go that far. Experts envisage that the courts are more likely to settle on the imposition of fines and a shake-up of Google’s business deals over distribution. The case is still likely to drag out for years.
To Google and beyond, the case has the government eyeing other tech companies like Apple and Microsoft for similar antitrust scrutiny. If it rules in favor of regulators, the effects on future online search and competition could be historic.
