The U.S. Department of Justice is exploring options that may include breaking up Alphabet's Google, following a recent court ruling that found the tech giant had illegally monopolized the online search market, according to Bloomberg News.
The US Justice Department is considering breaking up Alphabet's Google, $GOOGL
8/15/2024
Shares of the California-based company fell about 3% at 1401 GMT on Wednesday, dipping further in after-hours trading after Bloomberg's report was published late on Tuesday.
A Justice Department spokesperson stated that the department is reviewing the court's decision and will determine the next steps in line with the court's guidance and relevant antitrust laws. No decisions have been made yet, and Google declined to comment.
The ruling last week determined that Google had violated antitrust laws by spending billions to establish an illegal monopoly and become the default search engine globally. This ruling is considered a significant victory for federal authorities challenging Big Tech's market dominance.
According to Bloomberg, the DOJ is also considering alternatives such as requiring Google to share data with competitors and implementing measures to prevent the company from gaining an unfair advantage in AI products. The report noted that divesting the Android operating system was one of the most frequently discussed remedies by DOJ attorneys.
Officials are also weighing the potential sale of AdWords, Google's search advertising program, and possibly divesting its Chrome web browser, as per the report.
In the past four years, federal antitrust regulators have sued Meta Platforms, Amazon, and Apple for allegedly maintaining illegal monopolies. Microsoft settled with the DOJ in 2004 over claims it forced its Internet Explorer browser onto Windows users.
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