The US Department of Justice has proposed a far-reaching overhaul of Google’s structure and business practices, including the sale of its Chrome browser, in a bid to end its monopoly on internet search.
The DoJ proposals follow a landmark court ruling in August in which a federal judge ruled that Google maintained an illegal monopoly over search services.
The proposals filed to a Washington federal court include the forced sale of the Chrome browser and a five-year ban from entering the browser market; a block on paying third parties such as Apple to make Google the default search engine on their products; and divestment of the Android mobile operating system if the initial proposals do not work.
The DoJ also said Google should give publishers and content creators the ability to block their data from being used to train its artificial intelligence models. It wants Google’s search index, a database of all the webpages it has crawled, to be available to rivals, along with search results.
The proposals will be considered by the same judge who presided over the Google ruling, Amit Mehta, who will decide next year which remedies to impose. Google is also expected to propose its own remedies and Judge Mehta has set a hearing for April next year where he will hear arguments from both sides.
The DoJ said in its filing that competition must be restored to a search market dominated by Google, which is owned by Alphabet.
“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,” said the DoJ. “The remedy must close this gap and deprive Google of these advantages.”
The DoJ’s push for Chrome to be divested first emerged earlier this week. It said the plan would allow rival search engines to access a browser that “for many users is a gateway to the internet”. Chrome could be worth up to $20bn (£15.8bn) if it is sold off.
Google controls about 90% of the online search market and Chrome, a key means of getting Google search in front of internet users, controls more than 50% of the US browser market.
“Google’s unlawful behaviour has deprived rivals not only of critical distribution channels but also distribution partners who could otherwise enable entry into these markets by competitors in new and innovative ways,” the DoJ said.
The court papers, filed on Wednesday night, expand on an earlier outline on how the US wants to end Google’s monopoly. The tech company called the proposals radical at the time, saying they would harm US consumers and businesses and shake American competitiveness in artificial intelligence.
The department has also requested a prohibition on Google buying or investing in any search rivals, query-based AI products or advertising technology.
Google’s president of global affairs and chief legal officer, Kent Walker, called the proposals staggering and extreme, warning the plans would break many of its products and endanger the security and privacy of US users as a result.
“[The] DoJ chose to push a radical interventionist agenda that would harm Americans and America’s global technology leadership,” he said.
Google has also said it will appeal the monopoly ruling.
The attitude towards the case of the US president-elect, Donald Trump, is also a key factor as it comes under the aegis of a new administration. As president, Trump can direct the DoJ’s handling of the case.
“The president has the power to guide the resolution of the case, including directing a dismissal or backing off from remedial demands,” said William Kovacic, a professor at George Washington University Law School.
Although the case was originally brought by the Trump administration, the incoming president has made sceptical public comments about a breakup. Speaking at a Bloomberg News event in October, Trump said splitting up Google might “destroy the company” and that “China is afraid of Google”. However, Trump also alleged that Google appeared to be promoting negative stories about him in its search results.
“What you can do without breaking it up is make sure that it’s more fair,” he said.
Trump’s vice-president-elect, JD Vance, signalled support for action against the search giant this year, describing Google as “way too big, way too powerful”.
