Athira Sethu
Kochi, 19 November 2024
Moving to challenge Google’s dominance in the tech sector, the US government is stepping up its efforts against Google. An increasing number of reports suggest that the Department of Justice would seek a judge’s order forcing Alphabet, parent company of Google, to sell its Chrome browser, part of the government’s wider effort to break up what it calls Google’s “illegal monopoly”.
That said, the DOJ hasn’t confirmed the report. In October, officials said that they wanted Google to make big changes in business practice. This means one could be breaking up parts of the company, like selling off the Android operating system or Chrome browser. It will be one of the most significant actions by the US regulators since the government’s attempt to break up Microsoft more than 20 years ago was rebuffed.
Earlier, in an antitrust trial in 2023, an US court had ruled that Google has a monopoly in the search engine market. He found that this was so because secret deals between the company and other companies such as Apple conferred an unfair advantage on Google. For instance, Google pays billions of dollars for its search engine to be considered the default in browsers and devices. This allows Google to amass massive amounts of user data, which the company uses to maintain its dominance.
Google holds about 90% of the U.S. search market and 95% on mobile devices. That dominance has allowed it to grow into additional markets in the Chrome, Google Maps, and Android spaces.
The Court is now considering how it can put a stop to this situation. Some of the suggested remedies include forcing the company to share its search data with its competitors and stopping the company from bundling Android with its other services. There are also recommendations on limiting how Google uses artificial intelligence and website data.
In any event, Google will certainly appeal. This means that the case might go on for decades and may even reach the U.S. Supreme Court. For now, the tech giant is facing rising pressure to reform.
