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Title: US Regulators Seek To Break Up Google, Forcing Chrome Sale

Link: https://yro.slashdot.org/story/24/11/21/04582...

In a 23-page document (PDF) filed late Wednesday, U.S. regulators asked a
federal judge to break up Google after a court found the tech giant of
maintaining an abusive monopoly through its dominant search engine. As
punishment, the DOJ calls for a sale of Google's Chrome browser and
restrictions to prevent Android from favoring its own search engine. The
Associated Press reports: Although regulators stopped short of demanding
Google sell Android too, they asserted the judge should make it clear the
company could still be required to divest its smartphone operating system if
its oversight committee continues to see evidence of misconduct. [...] The
Washington, D.C. court hearings on Google's punishment are scheduled to begin
in April and Mehta is aiming to issue his final decision before Labor Day. If
[U.S. District Judge Amit Mehta] embraces the government's recommendations,
Google would be forced to sell its 16-year-old Chrome browser within six
months of the final ruling. But the company certainly would appeal any
punishment, potentially prolonging a legal tussle that has dragged on for
more than four years. Besides seeking a Chrome spinoff and a corralling of
the Android software, the Justice Department wants the judge to ban Google
from forging multibillion-dollar deals to lock in its dominant search engine
as the default option on Apple's iPhone and other devices. It would also ban
Google from favoring its own services, such as YouTube or its recently-
launched artificial intelligence platform, Gemini. Regulators also want
Google to license the search index data it collects from people's queries to
its rivals, giving them a better chance at competing with the tech giant. On
the commercial side of its search engine, Google would be required to provide
more transparency into how it sets the prices that advertisers pay to be
listed near the top of some targeted search results. The measures, if they
are ordered, threaten to upend a business expected to generate more than $300
billion in revenue this year. "The playing field is not level because of
Google's conduct, and Google's quality reflects the ill-gotten gains of an
advantage illegally acquired," the Justice Department asserted in its
recommendations. "The remedy must close this gap and deprive Google of these
advantages."

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

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