Google’s breakup is on the table as Justice Department lays out antitrust remedies

Google’s breakup is among the remedies the U.S. Justice Department is considering recommending as a penalty for its monopolistic practices. According to court documents filed Tuesday, the Justice Department “is considering behavioural and structural remedies” to prevent Google from using its Chrome, Play and Android products to give it an unfair advantage over rivals. That may include forcing Google to sell parts of its business, as well as possibly barring exclusive contracts and requiring Google to turn over data it uses to build its search and AI products. In a blog post Monday night, Lee-Anne Mulholland, Google’s vice president of regulatory affairs, said the DOJ is seeking “radical changes” that “go far beyond the specific legal issues in this case. This case is about a set of search distribution contracts,” she wrote. “Rather than focus on that, the government seems to be pursuing a sweeping agenda that will impact numerous industries and products, with significant unintended consequences for consumers, businesses and American competitiveness.”

According to Mulholland, the potential remedies laid out by the DOJ could put users’ privacy and security at risk, hurt innovation and make ads less useful for both businesses and consumers. The Justice Department said it will file a more detailed proposal in November. “Google’s unlawful conduct persisted for over a decade and involved a number of self-reinforcing tactics,” the filing said. “Unwinding that illegal behaviour and achieving the goals of an effective antitrust remedy takes time.” In August, Bloomberg News first reported the DOJ was considering a breakup of the tech giant, after a federal judge ruled Google’s search and parts of its ad business constituted a monopoly. That judge, Amit Mehta, is scheduled to take up the penalty portion of Google’s case next spring. On Monday, a different federal judge ordered Google to open up its Play Store to rival as punishment for maintaining an illegal monopoly through its app store.