Over the past few months, there have been a series of investigations on the activities of large American technology companies. Presently, the US Department of Justice and state attorneys are investigating Google’s antitrust case. They are considering whether to force Google to sell its Chrome browser and part of its lucrative advertising business.
These solutions were proposed by the Department of Justice (DOJ) while considering and preparing for the antitrust legal battle that began a few weeks earlier. This may be the first spin-off ordered by a US court in decades. They believe that this action will pave the way for the case.
According to insiders, authorities are still discussing how to cut down Google’s control of the $162.3 billion global digital advertising market. The various departments have not yet made a final decision and speak anonymously for confidential discussions. However, prosecutors require advertising experts, industry competitors, and other media to take possible measures to weaken Google’s control .
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The Justice Department is also preparing a separate antitrust lawsuit accusing Google of allegedly abusing its control of the online search market. The department may formally file a lawsuit next week. The spokespersons for Google and the Ministry of Justice declined to comment.
Google has too much control over the search market
The US Government’s Antitrust Subcommittee recently stated that Google has created a huge monopoly empire. This includes favoring its own services and products and suppressing services from its competitors. The committee claims that Google, an Alphabet subsidiary, uses its own services to suppress third-party competitors and dominate all markets from advertising to maps. The report also warns that Google’s growing cloud business and its acquisition plan for Fitbit may further strengthen this monopoly.
The report concludes that Google, Amazon, Apple, and Facebook enjoy monopoly power. The committee recommends that Congress amend the anti-monopoly law to force them to spin off some of their businesses and make acquisitions more difficult.
The report said: “The company that occupies an absolute dominant position in the field of general online search is Google. It accounts for 81% and 94% of general search queries on desktop computers and mobile devices in the U.S., respectively.”
Furthermore, the report shows that Google is abusing its position as the online search leader. It is forcing vertical websites to surrender valuable data and use its search advantages to enter adjacent markets. In addition, Google is using its dominant position in the search engine field and control of the Android operating system to expand its share of the web browser market…”
