The US Department of Justice has proposed a comprehensive overhaul of Google’s structure and business practices to address its monopoly on internet search. This comes after a federal judge ruled in August that Google maintained an illegal monopoly over search services.
The proposals include the forced sale of the Chrome browser and a five-year ban from entering the browser market. Additionally, Google would be blocked from paying third parties to make it the default search engine on their products. The DoJ also suggested divesting the Android mobile operating system if the initial proposals do not work. Furthermore, Google would be required to give publishers and content creators the ability to block their data from being used to train its artificial intelligence models.
The proposals aim to restore competition to a search market dominated by Google, which controls about 90% of the online search market. Google’s president of global affairs and chief legal officer, Kent Walker, called the proposals staggering and extreme, warning that they would harm US consumers and businesses, as well as endanger the security and privacy of users.
The DoJ’s push for Chrome to be divested would allow rival search engines to access a browser that serves as a gateway to the internet for many users. Google, however, has expressed concerns that the proposals would break many of its products and harm American competitiveness in artificial intelligence.
The court papers filed on Wednesday night expand on an earlier outline of the US government’s plan to end Google’s monopoly. The case comes under the incoming Biden administration, with the attitude of President-elect Donald Trump towards the case being a key factor. Trump has expressed scepticism about breaking up Google, suggesting that making its practices fairer could be a better approach.
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