Google: "The company cannot be divided if it wants to counter China"... US Department of Justice: "Division is inevitable to resolve monopolies"

Will Google be split up?... Second round of antitrust trial, DOJ: "There is a possibility of selling the Android system

Will the world's largest search engine company, Google, be split up? On the 21st, the US Department of Justice reiterated at the federal court in Washington DC that reopened the Google antitrust trial: "To eliminate Google's illegal monopoly, Chrome browser needs to be sold." In order to reduce the influence of Google, which accounts for 90% of the global search market, the division of Google is inevitable. In response, Google argued: "For national security and to counter China, it is important for Google to remain intact."

The trial that day was the second round after last year's ruling that Google had monopolized the search market. The trial will last three weeks, aiming to determine remedies to address Google's monopoly and restore market competition. Previously, the Department of Justice conveyed opinions including the sale of Chrome as a remedy last year, and the court will ultimately decide on what measures to command Google to take during this trial.

The Department of Justice argued on the same day: "The best way to solve Google's monopoly in the Internet search market is to include Chrome in the division of Google. To restore market competition, the court needs to issue a division order. [High market share] Chrome browser is the main gateway to search. If Chrome is sold, competing companies will be able to access a large number of search queries and compete with Google based on that." So far, Google has not shared the search data generated by Chrome with external companies. Chrome accounts for 66% of the global browser market.

The Department of Justice also pointed out that Google may further expand its dominance in the search market using AI [artificial intelligence] technology in the future, "there are signs that Google is strengthening its dominance centered around its own AI model Gemini". The Department of Justice stated that while Chrome should be sold, measures should also be taken to prohibit Google from paying costs to ensure its search engine is pre-installed on products of smartphone manufacturers, and if competition still hasn't been restored, the possibility of selling Google's smartphone operating system (OS) Android should be retained. Android, apart from Apple's iOS, practically controls the remaining smartphone OS market, with a market share of 71.42% last year.

In last year's trial, Google paid a total of $26.3 billion in "default search engine fees" to smartphone manufacturers such as Apple and Samsung alone in 2021.

Regarding this, Google deemed the Department of Justice's demands as "extreme", suggesting that the remedy should stop at limiting the contracts for payments to smartphone manufacturers. Google mentioned DeepSeek, a competitor in AI, arguing that the Department of Justice's demand to sell Chrome and other divisions would "hinder American innovation at a critical moment".

This trial will end on May 9th, and the court must reach a conclusion before August. The New York Times noted: "The outcome of the Google trial could bring significant changes to Silicon Valley giants." Google was also ruled to have violated antitrust laws in last week's related antitrust litigation regarding network advertising. Starting last week, cases on whether Meta's acquisition of Instagram and WhatsApp violated antitrust laws have also begun to be tried. That is to say, if Google sells Chrome, other antitrust trials involving big tech companies like Meta are likely to conclude with business sales. However, Google may immediately appeal after this result comes out, and even if actually judged to sell Chrome, Chrome should not be sold immediately.

Source: Chosun Ilbo

Original article: https://www.toutiao.com/article/1830073117600777/

Disclaimer: This article represents the author's personal views only