Ryan Haines / Android Authority
TL;DR
- The US Department of Justice has begun proposing solutions to correct Google’s position as a monopoly.
- The proposed solutions include breaking away Android, Chrome and Play away from Google.
Google was recently adjudged a “monopolist” by a US District Court for violating US antitrust laws in its attempts to stay as the default search engine on devices and web browsers. Consequent to this decision, the US Department of Justice is chalking up plans to correct the anticompetitive behavior, and their proposed solutions include breaking Android, Chrome, and Play away from Google.
The US Department of Justice has submitted a new “Proposed Remedy Framework” to correct Google’s violation of antitrust antitrust laws in the country (h/t Mishaal Rahman). This framework seeks to remedy the harm caused by Google’s search distribution and revenue sharing, generation and display for search results, advertising scale and monetization, and accumulation and use of data.
Remedying Google’s search distribution and revenue sharing
The DoJ says that the starting point for addressing Google’s unlawful conduct is undoing its effects on search distribution. For more than a decade, Google has controlled the most popular distribution channels, leaving rivals with little to no incentive to compete for users. Similarly, rivals cannot compete for these distribution channels because Google’s monopoly-funded revenue share payments disincentivize its partners from diverting queries to Google’s
rivals.
For this, the DoJ is considering several remedies. One is evaluating remedies that would limit or prohibit default agreements, preinstallation agreements, and other revenue-sharing arrangements related to Search.
The second set of remedies includes “behavioral and structural remedies” that would prevent Google from using products such as Chrome, Play, and Android to advantage Google Search and Google search-related products and features over rivals or new entrants.
This a developing story. Please check back in for more details.