The US Department of Justice is considering asking a US Federal Court judge to break up Google after the judge earlier this year found the tech giant had breached antitrust laws.
However, that may be easier said than done.
In August, judge Amit Mehta ruled that Google had spent tens of billions of dollars on exclusivity deals to maintain an illegal dominance of online search. He branded Google, which has a market share of more than 90 per cent in search, a “monopolist”.
Google’s quarterly trend results show a huge bump in interest in AI.Credit: iStock
He said the various agreements Google had with telecommunications companies, device manufacturers (especially Apple), and browser developers enabled it to maintain its dominance in search.
On Tuesday, the Department of Justice made a 32-page filingwith the court outlining its proposed remedies, saying it was considering “behavioural and …