- Google accused of monopolization of the search market and ads
- The company could have to sell to Chrome and more, but it is fighting
- Executives meet with the United States government to discuss implications
Google representatives have met with the United States government to try to talk about the White House to break the company.
Reports of Bloomberg He states that the company has argued that dividing its businesses could damage the US economy, but also affect national security.
The United States Department of Justice is simultaneously exploring two antitrust cases against Google, with respect to its domain of the search market and its online advertisements.
Google says that the break would be bad for national security
A federal judge ruled that Google illegally monopolized the search and advertising markets last year: Statcounter says that Google represents nine in 10 online searches, with bing in a second place very distant with only 4% market share.
The most worrying remedy proposed by the Department of Justice in Google’s eyes is to sell the Chrome browser, which represents two thirds of all the browser sessions worldwide (through separate figures from Statcounter). Google could also be forced to finish its exclusive agreements with Apple’s tastes.
A trial to determine the result is scheduled for April 2025, and Google could know where it is as soon as August, but there is hope for the company thanks to the special moment of these events. The Biden administration had tried to break Google at the beginning of the investigations, however, Trump’s new leadership could work in favor of Google.
It is not the first time that Google has taken the national security card: in 2022, and key rivals such as Amazon, Apple and Meta had been told to open their networks to competitors. At that time, Google said such movement could weaken US technological competitiveness against China, a hot topic in today’s administration.
A Google spokesman said Techradar Pro: “We routinely meet with regulators, even with the Department of Justice to discuss this case. As we have said publicly, we are concerned that current proposals damage the US economy and national security.”
