Following a guilty charge of anticompetitive practices to secure a monopoly, Google may be facing the reality of being broken up by the Department of Justice as a result.
Last week, the DOJ delivered an antitrust ruling to Google as it found the company had illegally participated in actions to secure a monopoly in search. Now the DOJ is mulling over possible punitive damages to administered to its decision that include the possibility of unbundling Google’s Chrome browser from its Android operating system by default.
U.S. District Judge Amit Mehta referenced the United States v. Microsoft Corp antitrust case as his working framework for the recent ruling against Google, and in similar fashion it seems the DOJ is looking at familiar punishments that involve disbanding the complimentary businesses that led to the company’s monopoly in search and advertising.
Beyond targeting browsers and operating systems, the DOJ could also target Google Ads by forcing the company to sell the business division or sever its most beneficial financial contract with Apple.
The $25B Google pays to Apple to be the default search engine for its various devices was highlighted several times in Mehta’s ruling, and it looks like the DOJ could seek to break up that deal as a result.
Less bombastic measures the DOJ could impose on Google going forward could include imposing new regulatory measures for Google Ads and its customers as well as forcing the company to be more transparent with deals, content, and data to help the industry set new regulations for search and mobile platforms.
Over the next few weeks the DOJ will mull over several potential damages to levy at Google, and whatever the department decides will undoubtedly become the new framework of enforcement for companies such as Apple, Amazon, and Meta who are all facing similar anticompetitive investigations.
