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Tech giant and search engine Google was found guilty of violating antitrust law by allegedly maintaining a monopoly on internet search last August, and now the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) is considering breaking up the search engine as part of the remedies.
The DOJ argued that through acquisitions, Google allegedly illegally monopolizes general online search services and the advertisements that run in search results, taking a substantial cut of every online ad sale and shutting out rivals through cornering advertisers in their ‘cycle of dominance.’
The alleged monopoly put some publishers out of business and raised costs for advertisers beyond what would be possible in a free market, resulting in higher costs of goods, less privacy, and increasingly lower-quality ads affecting consumers.
Now, the DOJ is considering what remedies to order against the search giant, including breaking off a substantial part of its company—spinning off its web browser Chrome or its software for android smartphones.
Other scenarios being considered by the DOJ include forcing Google to abandon deals made to companies like Apple and Mozilla to be the default search engine on their devices—the iPhone and the Firefox browser, respectively.
