Google must divest Chrome to restore competition in Internet search, DOJ says By Reuters

by Jody Godoy

(Reuters) – Alphabet’s Google (NASDAQ: ) must sell its Chrome browser, share data and search results with its rivals and take a range of other steps to end its independence in Internet searches, U.S. prosecutors argued to a judge on Wednesday.

Such changes will result in Google being heavily regulated for 10 years, under the supervision of a federal court in Washington that ruled that the company maintains an illegal monopoly on Internet search and related advertising.

Google controls about 90% of the internet search market.

“Google’s illegal behavior deprives competitors not only of critical distribution channels but also of distribution partners that can allow competitors to enter these markets in new and innovative ways,” the US Department of Justice said in a court filing.

Court documents filed Wednesday night expand on an earlier outline of how the US wants to end Google’s monopoly. Google called the proposals radical at the time, saying they would harm US consumers and businesses and undermine American competition in AI. The company said it would appeal the case.

The DOJ’s demands are broad, including barring Google from re-entering the browser market for five years and insisting that Google sell its Android mobile operating system if other remedies fail to restore competition. The DOJ also requested a ban on Google’s purchase or investment in any competitor’s search, query-based artificial intelligence products or advertising technologies.

The DOJ and a coalition of states are asking U.S. District Judge Amit Mehta to end exclusive agreements under which Google pays billions of dollars a year to Apple (NASDAQ: ) and other device vendors to automate its search engine on their tablets and smartphones. .

Google will have a chance to present its own proposals in December.

Mehta has scheduled a hearing on the motions for April, though President-elect Donald Trump and the next antitrust chief of the DOJ could step in and change course in the case.