- Google accused of search and ads market monopolization
- The company could have to sell off Chrome and more, but is fighting back
- Execs meet with US government to discuss implications
Google representatives have met with the US government to try and talk the White House out of breaking up the company.
Reports from Bloomberg claim the company has argued splitting up its businesses could harm the American economy – but also affect national security.
The US Department of Justice is simultaneously exploring two antitrust cases against Google, concerning both its search market dominance and its online ads business.
Google says breakup would be bad for national security
A federal judge ruled Google illegally monopolized the search and advertising markets last year – Statcounter has it that Google accounts for nine in 10 online searches, with Bing coming in a very distant second place with just a 4% share of the market.
The most concerning remedy proposed by the DOJ in Google’s eyes is for it to sell off the Chrome browser, which accounts for two-thirds of all browser sessions globally (via separate Statcounter figures). Google could also be forced to end its exclusivity deals with the likes of Apple.
A trial to determine the outcome is scheduled for April 2025, and Google could know where it stands as soon as August, but there is hope for the company thanks to the special timing of these events. The Biden administration had tried to break up Google at the start of the investigations, however new Trump leadership could work in Google’s favor.
It’s not the first time that Google has pulled the national security card – in 2022, it and key rivals such as Amazon, Apple and Meta had been told to open up their networks to competitors. At the time, Google said such a move could weaken US tech competitiveness against China – a hot topic in today’s administration.
TechRadar Pro has asked Google and the DOJ to offer up-to-date commentary, but we did not receive immediate responses.
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