The Department of Justice (DoJ) USA anticipated that it would require Google make profound changes to its business model and could even consider a split, after the tech giant was found responsible in early August for operating an illegal monopoly.
In a 30-page document sent to Washington federal judge Amit Mehta, the DoJ mentions possible “structural” changes, which several analysts interpret as a split.
The United States Justice and a new advance against Google
The US government suggests preventing the technology giant from using its Chrome browser, its Google Play Store application store and its operating system for Android mobile platforms, to give an advantage to its search engine.
Mehta was the one who found Google guilty of anti-competitive practices, in a trial that showed how the search engine received enormous sums for exclusivity from manufacturers of smartphones and Internet browsers that incorporated it.
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According to the website StatCounter, in September Google accounted for 90% of the global online search market and up to 94% on smartphones.
The document released Tuesday is a draft version of the recommendations the DoJ will send to the judge in November.
But in this first version it already requests substantial changes, such as mandatory access to the algorithm that returns results in the Google search engine.
Also the possibility of preventing the company from using Chrome, Google Play Store and Android to give advantage to its search engine, a limitation that could imply “structural” changes that would point to a division.
“Split Chrome and Android would destroy many other things,” Google reacted in a press release.
For the company, a forced separation like that “would change its business model, increase the cost of devices and harm Android and Google Play in their competition with the iPhone and the App Store”, Apple’s application store.
The Justice Department also plans to ask the judge to prohibit Google from using or retaining data that it refuses to share with other companies.
Regarding a possible exchange of data with other Internet actors, the Californian company argues that “it would present a risk to the protection of (personal) data and their security (of users, ndlr).”
For Google, the US government’s recommendations “go far beyond the specific legal issues of this case.”
After a more detailed request for relief from the DoJ is filed in November, it will be followed by a special hearing scheduled for April where arguments from both sides will be heard.
The possibility of dismantling Google or demanding profound modifications to its business model marks a big change on the part of the competition authorities in the United States, which left the technology giants alone since their failure in the attempt to dismantle Microsoft 20 years ago.
Google faces a broader legal offensive for alleged violation of competition laws.
On Monday, a federal judge in California ordered the company to allow other rival app stores to install on its boutique Google Play Store, a victory for video game maker Epic Games.
The game designer plans to launch his own app store in 2025, “without Google’s scary messages and its 30% commissions,” the percentage that the giant charges on the income of app creators.
Whatever the judge’s final decision, Google would have to appeal, which could drag out the process for years and even reach the US Supreme Court.
Source: Ambito
I am an author and journalist who has worked in the entertainment industry for over a decade. I currently work as a news editor at a major news website, and my focus is on covering the latest trends in entertainment. I also write occasional pieces for other outlets, and have authored two books about the entertainment industry.