Google was described as a monopoly by judge Amit Mehta. Following this decision, US Department of Justice lawyers began to offer solutions to stop the company’s illegal activities and restore competition in the search engines market. In the newly published 32-page file, ministry lawyers underlined that they focused on “both behavioral and structural solutions.”
These solutions range from implementing a settlement agreement to ensure close monitoring of the company’s activities to forcing Google to sell some of its businesses such as Chrome, Android or Google Play.
Likewise, U.S. Department of Justice lawyers are evaluating both behavioral and structural solutions that would prevent Google’s products, such as Chrome, Play and Android, the Google search engine and its related services and features from gaining an advantage over competitors or new market entrants. This includes emerging search access points and features such as artificial intelligence.
But the first issue addressed in the dossier is Google’s control of search distribution and the large sums it pays to maintain that distribution to be the default option on platforms like Apple’s iPhone. “Google’s monopolized revenue sharing payments prevent business partners from making referrals to Google’s competitors,” DOJ attorneys wrote. “This makes it impossible for competitors to compete for these distribution channels,” he emphasizes.
Other solutions proposed by the US Department of Justice include measures that affect user behavior. For example, Google may be required to support educational campaigns aimed at raising awareness for users to improve their ability to choose the most appropriate general search engine.
Google: The court exceeded its limits
In a response published on its blog, Google claimed that the proposed framework “exceeds the legal limits of the Court’s ruling on search distribution agreements” and argued that “splitting up Chrome or Android would tear them apart.” Google stated that the existence of Chrome and Android as free products has enabled billions of people to come online and said, “There are very few companies that can keep these products open source or invest in them at the same level.”
The structural solutions that the US Department of Justice is considering include more radical measures to reduce Google’s power in the market. In this context, steps are being considered to prevent key products, especially Chrome and Android, from providing an advantage to Google’s search engine services. The US Department of Justice’s recommendations aim to ensure that competitors have a more effective presence in the search market and users can make freer choices. On the other hand, Google’s response highlights the possible negative effects of such steps on the technology ecosystem.