US Regulators Seek To Break Up Google, Forcing Chrome Sale
In a 23-page document (PDF) filed late Wednesday, U.S. regulators asked a federal judge to break up Google after a court found the tech giant of maintaining an abusive monopoly through its dominant search engine. As punishment, the DOJ calls for a sale of Google’s Chrome browser and restrictions to prevent Android from favoring its own search engine. The Associated Press reports: Although regulators stopped short of demanding Google sell Android too, they asserted the judge should make it clear the company could still be required to divest its smartphone operating system if its oversight committee continues to see evidence of misconduct. […] The Washington, D.C. court hearings on Google’s punishment are scheduled to begin in April and Mehta is aiming to issue his final decision before Labor Day. If [U.S. District Judge Amit Mehta] embraces the government’s recommendations, Google would be forced to sell its 16-year-old Chrome browser within six months of the final ruling. But the company certainly would appeal any punishment, potentially prolonging a legal tussle that has dragged on for more than four years.
Besides seeking a Chrome spinoff and a corralling of the Android software, the Justice Department wants the judge to ban Google from forging multibillion-dollar deals to lock in its dominant search engine as the default option on Apple’s iPhone and other devices. It would also ban Google from favoring its own services, such as YouTube or its recently-launched artificial intelligence platform, Gemini. Regulators also want Google to license the search index data it collects from people’s queries to its rivals, giving them a better chance at competing with the tech giant. On the commercial side of its search engine, Google would be required to provide more transparency into how it sets the prices that advertisers pay to be listed near the top of some targeted search results. The measures, if they are ordered, threaten to upend a business expected to generate more than $300 billion in revenue this year.
“The playing field is not level because of Google’s conduct, and Google’s quality reflects the ill-gotten gains of an advantage illegally acquired,” the Justice Department asserted in its recommendations. “The remedy must close this gap and deprive Google of these advantages.”
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
In a 23-page document (PDF) filed late Wednesday, U.S. regulators asked a federal judge to break up Google after a court found the tech giant of maintaining an abusive monopoly through its dominant search engine. As punishment, the DOJ calls for a sale of Google’s Chrome browser and restrictions to prevent Android from favoring its own search engine. The Associated Press reports: Although regulators stopped short of demanding Google sell Android too, they asserted the judge should make it clear the company could still be required to divest its smartphone operating system if its oversight committee continues to see evidence of misconduct. […] The Washington, D.C. court hearings on Google’s punishment are scheduled to begin in April and Mehta is aiming to issue his final decision before Labor Day. If [U.S. District Judge Amit Mehta] embraces the government’s recommendations, Google would be forced to sell its 16-year-old Chrome browser within six months of the final ruling. But the company certainly would appeal any punishment, potentially prolonging a legal tussle that has dragged on for more than four years.
Besides seeking a Chrome spinoff and a corralling of the Android software, the Justice Department wants the judge to ban Google from forging multibillion-dollar deals to lock in its dominant search engine as the default option on Apple’s iPhone and other devices. It would also ban Google from favoring its own services, such as YouTube or its recently-launched artificial intelligence platform, Gemini. Regulators also want Google to license the search index data it collects from people’s queries to its rivals, giving them a better chance at competing with the tech giant. On the commercial side of its search engine, Google would be required to provide more transparency into how it sets the prices that advertisers pay to be listed near the top of some targeted search results. The measures, if they are ordered, threaten to upend a business expected to generate more than $300 billion in revenue this year.
“The playing field is not level because of Google’s conduct, and Google’s quality reflects the ill-gotten gains of an advantage illegally acquired,” the Justice Department asserted in its recommendations. “The remedy must close this gap and deprive Google of these advantages.”
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
GMT DAO Launches Groundbreaking Burn Initiative with a Target of Up to 600 Million GMT
Sydney, Australia, 21st November 2024, Chainwire
The post GMT DAO Launches Groundbreaking Burn Initiative with a Target of Up to 600 Million GMT first appeared on Tech Startups.
Sydney, Australia, 21st November 2024, Chainwire
The post GMT DAO Launches Groundbreaking Burn Initiative with a Target of Up to 600 Million GMT first appeared on Tech Startups.
DOJ says Google must sell Chrome to crack open its search monopoly
Image: Laura Normand / The Verge
The Department of Justice says that Google must divest the Chrome web browser to restore competition to the online search market, and it left the door open to requiring the company to spin out Android, too.
Filed late Wednesday in DC District Court, the initial proposed final judgement refines the DOJ’s earlier high-level outline of remedies after Judge Amit Mehta found Google maintained an illegal monopoly in search and search text advertising.
The filing includes a broad range of requirements the DOJ hopes the court will impose on Google — from restricting the company from entering certain kinds of agreements to more broadly breaking the company up. The DOJ’s latest proposal doubles down on its request to spin out Google’s Chrome browser, which the government views as a key access point for searching the web.
The possibility of an Android spin-out could hang over Google’s head
While the government isn’t going as far as to demand Google spin out its Android business, it’s leaving the option open. The possibility of an Android spin-out could hang over Google’s head to incentivize it against circumventing other remedies, but the government says a spin-out could also be mandated should those other solutions prove ineffective at restoring competition to the market. The DOJ says Google might even choose divestiture itself if the company doesn’t want to comply with some of the other rules the government is proposing against self-preferencing Google Search in Android.
Other remedies the government is asking the court to impose include prohibiting Google from offering money or anything of value to third parties — including Apple and other phone-makers — to make Google’s search engine the default, or to discourage them from hosting search competitors. It also wants to ban Google from preferencing its search engine on any owned-and-operated platform (like YouTube or Gemini), mandate it let rivals access its search index at “marginal cost, and on an ongoing basis,” and require Google to syndicate its search results, ranking signals, and US-originated query data for 10 years. The DOJ is also asking that Google let websites opt-out of its AI overviews without being penalized in search results.
Judge Mehta is now tasked with determining the best way to restore competition
The DOJ will file a revised version of its proposals in early March, before the government and Google return to the DC District Court in April for a two-week remedies trial. It’s the second stage of the litigation, with Mehta now tasked with determining the best way to restore competition in the markets.
The remedies trial will take place with a new administration overseeing the DOJ, which could impact the sorts of solutions it ultimately pursues. But the case was originally filed during the first Trump administration, which suggests Google won’t be entirely off the hook.
Google and the DOJ are scheduled to deliver closing arguments in a separate antitrust case playing out in Alexandria, VA on Monday, regarding its advertising technology business.
Image: Laura Normand / The Verge
The Department of Justice says that Google must divest the Chrome web browser to restore competition to the online search market, and it left the door open to requiring the company to spin out Android, too.
Filed late Wednesday in DC District Court, the initial proposed final judgement refines the DOJ’s earlier high-level outline of remedies after Judge Amit Mehta found Google maintained an illegal monopoly in search and search text advertising.
The filing includes a broad range of requirements the DOJ hopes the court will impose on Google — from restricting the company from entering certain kinds of agreements to more broadly breaking the company up. The DOJ’s latest proposal doubles down on its request to spin out Google’s Chrome browser, which the government views as a key access point for searching the web.
While the government isn’t going as far as to demand Google spin out its Android business, it’s leaving the option open. The possibility of an Android spin-out could hang over Google’s head to incentivize it against circumventing other remedies, but the government says a spin-out could also be mandated should those other solutions prove ineffective at restoring competition to the market. The DOJ says Google might even choose divestiture itself if the company doesn’t want to comply with some of the other rules the government is proposing against self-preferencing Google Search in Android.
Other remedies the government is asking the court to impose include prohibiting Google from offering money or anything of value to third parties — including Apple and other phone-makers — to make Google’s search engine the default, or to discourage them from hosting search competitors. It also wants to ban Google from preferencing its search engine on any owned-and-operated platform (like YouTube or Gemini), mandate it let rivals access its search index at “marginal cost, and on an ongoing basis,” and require Google to syndicate its search results, ranking signals, and US-originated query data for 10 years. The DOJ is also asking that Google let websites opt-out of its AI overviews without being penalized in search results.
The DOJ will file a revised version of its proposals in early March, before the government and Google return to the DC District Court in April for a two-week remedies trial. It’s the second stage of the litigation, with Mehta now tasked with determining the best way to restore competition in the markets.
The remedies trial will take place with a new administration overseeing the DOJ, which could impact the sorts of solutions it ultimately pursues. But the case was originally filed during the first Trump administration, which suggests Google won’t be entirely off the hook.
Google and the DOJ are scheduled to deliver closing arguments in a separate antitrust case playing out in Alexandria, VA on Monday, regarding its advertising technology business.