Gaming IndustryThe US government is deciding whether to break Google apart and try to end its monopoly on searchWhen you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.Here’s how it works.
Gaming IndustryThe US government is deciding whether to break Google apart and try to end its monopoly on searchWhen you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.Here’s how it works.
When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.Here’s how it works.
(Image credit: Bloomberg via Getty Images)
“Google’s unlawful conduct persisted for over a decade and involved a number of self-reinforcing tactics,“says the DoJ’s court submission. “Unwinding that illegal behavior and achieving the goals of an effective antitrust remedy takes time, information (particularly given the informational asymmetries between Plaintiffs and Google), and careful consideration.”
It goes on to say that these “serious competition issues have plagued the relevant markets for more than a decade”, leaving potential competitors unable to gain any traction in search and ads. In turn this has allowed Google to crank-up the prices on ads “while degrading the quality of those ads and the related services.”
The DoJ says potential remedies include “prevent[ing] Google from using products such as Chrome, Play, and Android to advantage Google search and Google search-related products and features—including emerging search access points and features, such as artificial intelligence—over rivals or new entrants.” Chrome was a particular target of the original ruling, with the court finding it “significantly narrows the available channels of distribution and thus disincentivizes the emergence of new competition.”
Google VP Lee-Anne Mulholland has a blogpostresponding to the filing, with the measured headline “DOJ’s radical and sweeping proposals risk hurting consumers, businesses, and developers”. It claims that the DoJ’s potential remedies will produce “significant unintended consequences for consumers, businesses, and American competitiveness.”
One more amazing claim. Mulholland says that, because Google pays Apple and Samsung billions a year to be the default search option on devices, they’re actually subsidising those products for the consumer. Of course!
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