Google’s empire is under siege, with two high-profile antitrust trials set to begin on Monday. The search giant faces a two-front war that could fundamentally reshape its business, while also opening new opportunities for competitors. In the first battle, Google was deemed an unlawful monopolist in the online search market by a federal judge last year.
Now, the company must navigate a three-week trial in Washington, DC to determine the appropriate remedies to restore competition to online search. The US Department of Justice will make its case for forcing Google to sell its Chrome browser, share search data with competitors, and end exclusionary deals with phone makers.
The stakes are high, as this antitrust threat is one of the greatest faced by a major tech company in decades – since Microsoft’s landmark loss over its PC operating system monopoly 25 years ago. While some experts believe less extreme measures can address the harms inflicted by Google, the outcome remains uncertain.
In recent years, Google has incurred fines for anticompetition charges and made business changes to comply with international regulations outside of the US. However, these efforts have not come close to addressing what the DOJ is asking for in this case.
Source: https://www.theverge.com/policy/652170/google-search-ad-tech-remedies-antitrust-chrome-breakup