Google's Antitrust Loss Means It Could Be Facing A Breakup By The DOJ

The Justice Department is considering several remedy options after a judge found Google to be a monopoly last week, according to Bloomberg. One of the options currently on the table is the dreaded forced breakup, which hasn’t been done since AT&T was broken up back in the 1980s.

If the government does opt to force a breakup of Google, it would most likely require the company to spin off two pillars of its current business, Android and Chrome. Although it seems that a forced divestiture of AdWords might also be in the cards. If any of these come to pass it would mean massive changes for the web, in mobile, and in online advertising.

Ironically, forcing Google to get rid of Android could potentially lead to unintended consequences. Right now, Android is the only competitor to Apple’s iPhone, but it has undoubtedly been buoyed by the war chest Google provides. It’s difficult to say if Android can continue to be meaningful competition for Apple when it no longer has that kind of backing. This could potentially lead to a monopoly for Apple in the mobile space, which is the very thing the Justice Department is trying to combat.


However, there are other options being discussed within the Justice Department that don’t go as far and would allow Google to remain whole. One of those options would require Google to share data it gathers from its search product with competitors such as Microsoft’s Bing. Moreover, there could potentially be rules put in place that make it more for the company to scrape data from the web to further develop its AI. In theory, these less severe options should give competitors a better chance against Google.

Ultimately, the forced breakup would still need to be approved by the judge presiding over this case. Additionally, the Justice Department has plenty of options available without needing to go for the boldest one.