DOJ may seek Google breakup after landmark antitrust case victory: ‘Unlawful conduct’

The Justice Department said it is considering whether to ask a federal judge to order a breakup of Google’s online search monopoly – a move that could upend the Big Tech firm’s entire business model.

The feds pointed to a forced divestment of Google’s Chrome browser, its Google Play app store or its Android operating system as among the potential “behavioral and structural remedies” to address the company’s “unlawful conduct.”

“Fully remedying these harms requires not only ending Google’s control of distribution today, but also ensuring Google cannot control the distribution of tomorrow,” the DOJ said in a filing late Tuesday.

Shares of Google parent Alphabet were down nearly 2% in early trading Wednesday.

Judge Amit Mehta ruled in August that Google built a monopoly over search by making billions of dollars in payments to head off competition and other illegal tactics.

He is expected to make a final decision on remedies to address Google’s conduct by next summer.

The DOJ also floated the possibility of requiring Google to share relevant search data, indexes and models with its rivals to ensure a level playing field. The feds said they would provide a more complete proposal for Mehta’s review in November.

The rise of artificial intelligence marked an “emerging barrier to competition and risks further entrenching Google’s dominance” – and any remedy ordered by the judge should address its impact on the market, the agency added.

A forced selloff is one of several possibilities that Mehta is expected to consider before making his final ruling.

The judge could also force Google to stop making payments to smartphone makers like Apple and carriers like AT&T to ensure its search engine is installed by default on most devices.

DOJ lawyers focused on those payments throughout the trial.

Google, which has vowed to appeal Mehta’s initial ruling, described the DOJ’s remedy framework as “radical” and claimed the proposals go “far beyond the specific legal issues in this case.”

“Government overreach in a fast-moving industry may have negative unintended consequences for American innovation and America’s consumers,” Google’s vice president of regulatory affairs Lee-Anne Mulholland said in a blog post. “We look forward to making our arguments in court.”

Rival search engine DuckDuckGo – whose founder Gabriel Weinberg was among the most high-profile witnesses to testify against Google at trial – lauded the DOJ’s proposal.

“Anchored to the court’s ruling, this proposal smartly takes aim at breaking Google’s illegal hold on the general search market now and ushering in a new era of enduring competition moving forward,” said Kamyl Bazbaz, DuckDuckGo’s senior vice president of public affairs.

Google is in the midst of an unprecedented regulatory crackdown as multiple antitrust cases take aim at various parts of its business.

Earlier this week, US District Judge James Donato ruled that Google must open up its lucrative Play Store to rivals. His decision came months after Google suffered a stunning defeat in an antitrust case followed by “Fortnite” maker Epic Games.

Google also faces a separate DOJ case aimed at its alleged monopoly over digital advertising technology. Closing arguments in that trial are slated to occur next month.

Several Wall Street analysts have already begun to issue warnings about a potential Google breakup as a meaningful overhang on its business in the months and years ahead.

Google CEO Sundar Pichai recently admitted that the company’s legal fight is likely to stretch on for many years.