(Bloomberg) — The U.S. Justice Department is considering asking a federal judge to force Google Inc., one of the world’s largest technology companies, to sell parts of its business.
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Alphabet Inc. ( GOOG ) The company confirmed an earlier Bloomberg News report in a court filing Tuesday that antitrust enforcers are weighing a breakup to ease its search dominance of the business. It said Justice Amit Mehta could also order Google to provide access to the underlying data it uses to develop its search results and artificial intelligence products.
The Justice Department is “considering behavioral and structural remedies that would prevent Google Search and Google Search-related products and features from Google, Play and Android from using products and features — emerging search access points and features, artificial intelligence, etc. — over competitors or new entrants,” The agency said.
The 32-page document provides an outline of the possibilities a judge can consider as the case moves to the settlement phase. The company said it will present a full proposal on solutions next month.
Two decades ago Microsoft Corp. (MSFT), the most significant move to rein in a major tech company over an illegal monopoly since Washington failed to break up MSFT. The Justice Department and the U.S. Federal Trade Commission have targeted Big Tech dominance, scrutinizing deals and investments and accusing some of the nation’s most powerful companies of illegally dominating markets.
Apple Inc. to stifle innovation by preventing competitors from accessing its hardware and software features. ( AAPL ) was sued by the Justice Department earlier this year. Alphabet, Microsoft ( MSFT ) and Amazon.com Inc. were asked about their investments in AI startups as part of a study on how these partnerships affect competition. (AMZN) sent the FTC investigations.
Antitrust enforcers said Google gained scale and data advantages from its illegal distribution deals with other tech companies that made the search engine the default option on smartphones and web browsers. Google’s Android business includes the operating system used in smartphones and devices and applications.
The Justice Department also said it could seek a request that Google allow websites more ability to opt out of its artificial intelligence products. The agency said it is considering proposals related to Google’s dominance of search text ads, such as requirements for the company to give advertisers more information and control over where their ads appear. The agency may request that Google be restrained from investing in search competitors or potential competitors.
Google criticized the Justice Department’s filing as “severe,” saying it would have “significant unintended consequences for consumers, businesses, and American competitiveness.”
“Today’s drawing of the court’s decision on search distribution agreements is beyond legal scope,” Leigh-Ann Mulholland, Google’s vice president of regulatory affairs, wrote in a blog post.
Antitrust pressure is building against Google from several lawsuits. Mehta, who ruled this summer that Google broke antitrust laws in both the online search and search text ad markets, plans to conduct a trial of the proposed settlement next spring and issue a decision by August 2025. Google has already said it plans to appeal Mehta’s decision, but will have to wait until he finalizes a settlement before doing so.
European Union watchdogs last year floated Google’s desire to break up its business to ease antitrust concerns. Margrethe Vestager, the group’s head of competition, said “divestment is the only way” to address concerns about how the company supports its own services to the detriment of ad tech rivals, advertisers and online publishers. That EU case — which could reach a final decision by the end of the year — marks the latest escalation in a long-running saga that has already led to three EU fines totaling more than 8 billion euros ($8.8 billion) for other Google services.
“Despite the anti-trust swirls, we believe it’s unlikely that Google will break even at this point,” said Daniel Ives, managing director and senior equity analyst at Wedbush Securities. “Google will fight this in the courts for years.”
Separately from the Justice Department, a group of US states sued Google separately, demanding that the tech giant be paid for a public education campaign about how to change search engines.
On Monday, a different federal judge ordered Google to open its app store for the next three years to settle a separate antitrust lawsuit brought by Epic Games Inc over its dominance of app distribution on Android smartphones. The company plans to appeal the decision.
Last month, the Justice Department and Google faced off in a third antitrust case centered on the company’s dominance of the technology used to buy and sell online display ads. Closing arguments in that case are scheduled for late November. Antitrust enforcers have said they plan to force Google to sell parts of its ad tech business if a court finds the company monopolized in that market.
—Assisted by Julia Love and Samuel Stolton.
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