US DoJ weighing options following Google’s illegal monopoly ruling

The U.S. Department of Justice (DoJ) is considering its next moves following a landmark court ruling that found Google guilty of illegally monopolizing the online search market. The decision, a significant victory for antitrust regulators, has opened the door for potential sweeping changes to the tech giant's operations.

Sources familiar with the matter indicate that the DoJ is exploring a range of options, from imposing hefty fines to forcing the company to divest itself of certain assets.

A complete split of the $2 trillion tech giant is also on the table, but Neil Chilson, former chief technologist for the FTC has called it, “total wishcasting”.

“Nothing in Judge Mehta’s rather standard antitrust approach suggests a breakup is a plausible remedy. A breakup wouldn’t address the core conduct that the court found problematic: exclusive contracts for default placements,” he said.

A forced sale of AdWords, Google’s lucrative search advertising program, and the divestment of its Chrome web browser are also on the card. Ultimately, as Chilson noted, the DoJ needs to take the step that best complies with the court’s verdict. Ban the exclusive agreements that allow Google to dominate the market.

The landmark ruling found that Google had violated antitrust laws by spending billions of dollars to establish an illegal monopoly over the global search market. During the trial, it was revealed that Google had paid more than $26 billion in 2021 alone to secure its position as the default search engine on devices and platforms, including Apple’s Safari browser.

Google which has another antitrust suit by the US Justice Department pending next month is planning to appeal the ruling.

The case has drawn comparisons to previous high-profile antitrust battles, such as the one in 2004 in which Microsoft settled with the DoJ on claims it forced its Internet Explorer web browser on Windows users. Federal antitrust regulators have also gone after Meta, Amazon, and Apple in the past four years, claiming the companies illegally maintained monopolies.