The last few months have been tough for Google due to the ongoing anti-trust violations against it. The accusations of illegal monopolistic practices that discourage competition and persist in being the default search engine for browsers as well as on devices. Now, a federal judge has ruled against the company and found it to be, in fact, maintaining a monopoly. While the fate of the company is still to be decided in proceedings, the US Department of Justice has proposed solutions that include breaking up the big tech.
After a judge's ruling declares Google a "monopolist," DOJ is suggesting ways to deal with this that include breaking up Android and Chrome
Google has received backlash for violating U.S. anti-trust laws and harming both the competition and consumers for not allowing fair competition to be sustained. After going through an enormous amount of consideration, the federal declared Google a monopolist and is said to have violated Section 2 of the Sherman Act. The decision by Judge Amit Mehta came about after the Department of Justice (DOJ) accused Google of monopolizing the illegal search engine market.
After Google was declared a monopolist, DOJ lawyers are now proposing ways to restore competition and corrective measures for the illegal anti-competition practices. One of the proposed solutions includes breaking up Chrome, Android, and Google Play from Google. A 32-page filing has been submitted that considers not just structural remedies but also work required on the behavioral end.
The Proposed Remedy Framework includes making improvements in Google's search distribution, search results display and generation, advertising scale and monetization, revenue sharing, and also how data is used and gathered. One of the severe solutions includes preventions placed up for Google leveraging its Chrome, Android, and Play, which are its key products, to give an unfair edge to Google Search and related services. This step would drastically weaken Google's dominant position as it would no longer be able to continue across multiple platforms.
Other suggested solutions include giving websites opt-out options for AI Overviews in Google Search. Google has responded to the DOJ's extreme proposal and suggested that such a radical approach would harm multiple stakeholders, including consumers, developers, and businesses. Google claimed in its blog post that the requests go beyond the specific legal issue at hand:
We believe that today’s blueprint goes well beyond the legal scope of the Court’s decision about Search distribution contracts. Government overreach in a fast-moving industry may have negative unintended consequences for American innovation and America’s consumers. We look forward to making our arguments in court.
Google further warned that breaking Chrome and Android would completely change the business model, increase the cost of devices, and further weaken Android and Google Play's position as competitors to the App Store and Apple's iPhone. More details on the solutions opted for will be available in the next proceedings.
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