Google attacks ‘radical’ US proposal to break up parent company

The US government is considering asking a judge to order Alphabet, the Google parent company, to break itself up.
It is among the remedies the US Department of Justice has outlined after a judge found in August that Google had built an illegal monopoly.
The potential fixes have been set out in a 32-page court filing for the judge to consider as the case moves to the remedy phase. They include Alphabet divesting parts of its business, such as its Chrome browser and Android operating system, and a ruling that Google must stop paying to have its search engine pre-installed or set as the default on new devices.
Google called the proposals “radical” and said they “go far beyond the specific legal issues in this case”.
The Department of Justice could also request an order for Alphabet to make the indices, data and models it uses for Google search and AI-assisted search features available to rivals.
The remedies are subject to change and the Department of Justice said it would provide a fuller proposal next month.
The department said: “For more than a decade, Google has controlled the most popular distribution channels, leaving rivals with little-to-no incentive to compete for users. Fully remedying these harms requires not only ending Google’s control of distribution today, but also ensuring Google cannot control the distribution of tomorrow.”
Shares in Alphabet were little changed in after-hours trading. They have risen almost 20 per cent this year to give the tech giant a market value of $2 trillion.
In August, Judge Amit P Mehta found that Google, which handles about 90 per cent of the world’s internet searches, exploited its market-leading position to exclude competitors. He said that Google had paid $26.3 billion in 2021 alone to maintain its dominant market share and ensure that its search engine was the default on smartphones and browsers.
Mehta wrote in his ruling: “Even if a new entrant were positioned from a quality standpoint to bid for the default [on new devices] when an agreement expires, such a firm could compete only if it were prepared to pay partners upwards of billions of dollars in revenue share.
“Google, of course, recognises that losing defaults would dramatically impact its bottom line. For instance, Google has projected that losing the Safari default would result in a significant drop in queries and billions of dollars in lost revenues.”
Oct 20, 2020: US Justice Department sues Google alleging it illegally monopolised the online search and advertising markets, the first time in a generation that the US government accused a Big Tech corporation of an illegal monopoly
Sept 12, 2023: Google defends its practices at a trial before US District Judge Amit Mehta in Washington, saying it had won its market share by providing a high-quality service
Nov 16, 2023: Google’s chief executive, Sundar Pichai, acknowledges the importance of making its search engine the default on phones
May 2, 2024: Mehta hears closing arguments in the case, pressing Google on how rival search engines could compete, and whether online advertisers would substitute social media or other ads for search advertising
Aug 5, 2024: The judge finds Google violated antitrust law, saying that “Google has no true competitor”
Oct 8, 2024: Prosecutors file 32-page document with “behavioural and structural” remedies including selling off parts of its business, such as Chrome, Android, or Google Play.
Oct 9, 2024: Google claims framework “goes well beyond the legal scope of the Court’s decision”, and that “splitting off Chrome or Android would break them”
Nov 20, 2024: Prosecutors to file a proposed order, outlining the exact remedies they seek
Dec 20, 2024: Google to propose its own remedies
April 22, 2025: Mehta to hold two-week trial on what remedies are appropriate
August 2025: Mehta to issue a remedies ruling by late summer
September 2025: Google has 30 days from the final judgment in the case to begin the process of appeal. The appeal could stretch into 2027 or later