Google has been illegally monopolising the search engine market and has resorted to using anticompetitive means to maintain its top position in the market.
It is no surprise that Google holds a monopoly over the search engine market, globally. The company has been the premier search engine for so long now that looking up information online is colloquially known as ‘Googling.’
On Tuesday, Bloomberg reported that top antitrust officials with the Department of Justice (DOJ) have decided to ask a judge to compel Google’s parent company Alphabet Inc. to sell off its Chrome browser. In August, Justice Amit Mehta ruled that Google was monopolising the search engine market and had resorted to using anticompetitive means to maintain its top position in the market, deeming it illegal.
While at the time, the DOJ was unclear as to how to handle this issue, there were considerations to break up the company. Months later, this proposal might be implemented with the Justice Department cracking down on the company to sell off Chrome. Antitrust officials are expected to request Mehta to impose data licensing requirements on the company. Should this proposal fall into place, it would not only affect Google and the tech industry but the intertwined industries as well.
Ownership of the most popular search engine enables Google to monitor the activity of the signed-in users and use that data to promote targeted advertisements, so as to increase their revenue. It is also directly through Chrome that Google pushes its Artificial Intelligence (AI) model, Gemini.
Bloomberg reported that Google representative Lee-Anne Mulholland, Vice President of Regulatory Affairs has said that such a move by the DOJ would be detrimental to consumers and developers alike, dubbing this episode as an attempt by the Justice Department to ‘push its radical agenda.’ The DOJ has not responded to these statements and the government possesses the authority to decide whether the Chrome sale would be necessary if some of the remaining suggested solutions help create more competition in the market.
Google has spent millions of dollars to remain the default browser on Apple and Samsung products. Antitrust suits which came to light last year exposed that Google has been paying huge sums of money to Apple’s Safari and Mozilla’s Firefox to maintain its first position in the search engine market. In April 2024 it was discovered that the company paid Apple US $20 billion to secure its place at the top.
It was also uncovered that the company has been consistent in writing handsome cheques to these devise providers, which resulted in the filing of an antitrust suit. The DOJ understands that such behaviour squashes all competition in the market and has therefore ruled that Google must end such illegal practices. This potential new ruling will be welcomed by other search engine competitors such as Microsoft’s Bing, Safari, etc. During a previous hearing, Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella had testified against these unethical practices being carried out by Google.
The push to sell Chrome has been circulating since August when the DOJ had sought to break up the company’s monopoly. Google’s competitors had voiced their concern that as the company has the largest database, it holds an unfair advantage over the remaining search engines while developing AI products.
The officials are proposing certain requirements for Google to facilitate more competition. Some of these include separating Search from Android and Google Play and also sharing more information with advertisers who would then have more control over where their advertisements will appear. Authorities are also pushing Mehta to rule that Google would be prevented from using content from different websites to develop their AI products.
The most important ruling the antitrust officials hope to achieve is that a blanket ban would be instated on exclusive contracts such as the ones Google has with Apple and Android. Competition is an important driver in free market economics and the authorities are hopeful that such monopolies will be broken, given the ongoing rapid developments in the tech industry with the advent of AI.
