The US is opening a war on Google – and preparing to break up the internet giant

In an unprecedented move. USAwith the country’s Justice Ministry and prosecutors discussing different scenarios to end its dominance. Google In online searches, including: Company dissolution.

Google was found last week to have violated that. Antitrust Law illegally maintaining a monopoly on internet search. Discussions are now beginning on how to fix these abuses.

According to them New York Times, Justice Department officials are considering remedies they could ask a federal judge to issue an order against the research giant.

They discuss various proposals, including shutting down parts of Google like the browser. chrome or operating system Android smartphone.

Other scenarios under consideration include Google having to disclose its data to competitors or having to abandon deals that have made its search engine the default on devices like iPhone.

The sources said the government is meeting with companies and other experts to discuss their proposals to limit Google’s power. The consultations are in their early stages.

Judge Amit P. Mehta of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia has asked the Justice Department and Google to come up with a process to determine a resolution in the case by Sept. 4.

A hearing has been scheduled. September 6 To discuss next steps.

Decision – a milestone

Last week’s ruling that Google is a monopoly was a landmark antitrust ruling, raising serious questions about the power of tech giants in the modern internet age.

Apple, Amazon and Meta, which owns Facebook and Instagram, also face antitrust issues.

Google is set to go to trial in another antitrust case — this one involving ad tech — next month.

Any solutions in the case of Google Search are likely to impact this broader landscape.
The stakes are high for Google, which has become a $2 trillion internet giant by building online advertising and other businesses in addition to its search engine.

Judge Mehta could reshape the core of the business or order it to abandon old practices that have helped cement its dominance.

Google generated $175 billion in revenue from its search engine and related businesses last year.

Remedies in antitrust cases can have serious long-term effects.

Microsoft case

In 2000, a federal judge ruled against Microsoft in an antitrust case and ordered the company to be broken up.

The split was overturned on appeal, but the main legal findings were upheld.

Later, Microsoft did not exert its dominance over the emerging Internet industry, which created space for new companies—such as Google—to flourish.

In the Google case, Judge Mehta ruled on August 5 that the Silicon Valley company illegally maintained a monopoly over general online search services and certain ads displayed in search results.

He generally agreed with the government that Google created a cycle of dominance that prevented competitors from innovating and allowed it to raise advertising prices beyond what would be possible in a free market.

At the heart of that cycle, Judge Mehta said, were billions of dollars in payments Google made to companies like Apple and Mozilla to be the default search engine on devices like the iPhone and browsers like Firefox.

Since then, the Justice Department and state attorneys general have begun weighing their desire to check Google’s influence versus what they could reasonably ask Judge Mehta to do given the substance of his ruling.

Google’s rivals and other critics have proposed — both publicly and in discussions with the government — various options for how Judge Mehta could take control of the company.

Even more extreme is Google splitting up a large part of its business. That could mean the company would have to cut ties with Chrome, its web browser, or Android, its smartphone software.

Both products use Google as their default search engine, helping to cement the company’s dominance, Judge Mehta said.

the solution

Divesting from the Android operating system, used on about 2.5 billion devices worldwide, is one solution that Justice Department lawyers have discussed. In his ruling, Mehta found that Google requires device makers to sign agreements to access its apps like Gmail and the Google Play Store.

These agreements also require that Google’s search engine and Chrome browser be installed on devices in a way that cannot be removed, effectively preventing competition from other search engines.

AI Products

For years, websites have given Google’s web crawler access to make sure they appear in the company’s search results. But recently, some of that data has been used to help Google develop its own artificial intelligence.

Last fall, Google created a tool that allows websites to block AI scrapings, following complaints from companies. But that exemption doesn’t apply to everyone.

In May, Google announced that some searches would now be accompanied by an “AI overview,” answers that spare users the hassle of clicking through links. The AI-powered panel appears below queries, displaying concise information pulled from Google search results from across the web.

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