Editor-DN
Attempts by US antitrust regulators to break up Alphabet by forcing the sale of the Google Chrome browser and other proposals to limit its search dominance are likely to run into legal challenges because the remedies are extreme.
After ruling in August that Google illegally monopolized the search market, US Justice Department prosecutors argued to a judge on Wednesday that the company should sell Chrome, giving data and search results to rivals. must share with and potentially sell their Android smartphone software.
Alphabet shares fell as much as 7%, on track for their biggest daily percentage drop since Jan. 31.
Recommendations are part of a historical case that focuses on how users find information. But experts say the new pro-business administration of President-elect Donald Trump next year could reverse that effort and legal action could drag on for years.
“That would strike me as asking too much,” said Kevin Wakush at Jensen Investment Management, which holds Google stock and suspects that Chrome will be divested. “You ask about everything possible, not necessarily looking at what would be likely and proportionate, and then see what sticks.”
The DOJ tried and won to divest Microsoft in the early 2000s after accusing it of illegally monopolizing the web browser market. That decision was overturned by an appeals court, and Microsoft and the DOJ eventually settled.
Walkush expects the Google case to take years to conclude as the company appeals. He said that the wheels of justice do not turn quickly.
Google called the DOJ’s approach “unprecedented government overreach that will harm American consumers, developers, and small businesses”, for example by reducing user privacy and by companies such as browser maker Mozilla. Less funding for when they feature in Google Search.
The case may also face challenges from Trump.
While Trump’s administration originally filed a search case against Google during his first term, he indicated in October that he may not break up the company because it could hurt the U.S. tech industry at a time when Competition is hot with China in areas including AI.
Representatives for Trump did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
‘quite fast’
Chrome, the most widely used web browser, is a pillar of Google’s business, providing the company with valuable user data that helps it target ads. The search advertising business accounted for more than half of Alphabet’s total revenue of $88.3 billion in the most recent quarter.
The value of Chrome, which is estimated to account for about two-thirds of the global browser market, as a standalone browser declines rapidly.
“The reason it’s so valuable to Google is because Google can use it for its advertising business and its search business,” said Megan Gray, former general counsel for search rival DuckDuckGO who also served as an attorney at the Federal Trade Commission. used to increase the “If you don’t have that, Chrome will just be a data broker.”
Critics say the forced sale would not address several key issues raised in the DOJ’s lawsuit, including the search monopoly. US antitrust enforcers, who are also pursuing Apple and Amazon in other antitrust cases, would have to approve any potential Chrome buyer.
“The DOJ is going to have a lot of trouble with this treatment,” said Gus Hurwitz, senior fellow and academic director at the University of Pennsylvania Carey Law School, because Chrome can run a search engine other than Google. “Courts expect any remedy to bear some relation to the underlying concern of antitrust. Removing Chrome does nothing to alleviate that concern.”
The DOJ proposed a blanket ban on Google, offering incentives to give its search engine preferential treatment. This would include Google’s lucrative partnership with Apple, where it pays the smartphone maker billions of dollars annually to make Google Search the default on Apple smartphones.
Evercore analysts called the proposed restrictions “draconian.”
Hurwitz said that given the popularity of Google Search, Apple will continue with Google as the default search engine, even without a contract or payments.
The DOJ’s proposals also require Google to license search results for a nominal fee and share user data with its competitors for free.
Gil Loria, an analyst at DA Davidson, said it is difficult to gauge the impact of Google opening up search data until the terms are clear. The Center for Journalism and Liberty said licensing its search data to Google would be “transformational” for news publishers because it would help them better understand their audience.
(Other than the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
