The Justice Department is proposing to break up Google and force it to sell parts of its business. The proposal, one of several recommendations submitted in a late Tuesday court filing, comes after a judge this summer found Google holds a monopoly in online search and text advertising (see previous write-up).
Judge Amit Mehta is expected to decide on a final slate of remedies in August 2025, with Google likely to be required to stop paying device makers—including Apple—over $20B annually to set its search engine as the default. In the event of a breakup, Google warns services will be disrupted for billions of users. Analysts have likened the ruling to the 1999 antitrust case against software giant Microsoft; the last US company to be split by an antitrust ruling was AT&T in 1982 (read history).
The ruling on Google's monopoly in search is distinct from a separate DOJ antitrust suit over its ad business. Closing arguments in the trial are expected in November.
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