Google’s empire is under siege

Today, Google will have one last chance to prove to a federal judge that its advertising business is not a monopoly. The U.S. Department of Justice argued for several weeks earlier this year that Google had too much control over web advertising and used that power to lock in customers, leaving little room for competition. The trial ends this week. If it loses, Google may be forced to make sweeping changes to the core of its business.

Even if the tech giant emerges from this hearing unscathed, a spreading legal fire still jeopardizes everything it has created. Google’s sprawling empire faced little regulatory scrutiny for many years, allowing the company to freely develop its search engine, browser, operating systems, and hardware products that intersect to support each other. It’s the overlap of Google’s massive businesses that has attracted the attention of government agencies and tech industry rivals determined to chip away at Google’s stronghold piece by piece.

Google now faces threats from all sides: The European Union is investigating its compliance with regulations on Big Tech, the US is suing over its search and advertising monopolies, Epic is pressuring Google to open its Play Store, and Yelp is targeting Google over local search results. It’s unclear what will happen next when President-elect Trump takes office. But one thing is certain: This is the riskiest moment Google has ever been in.

The biggest threat to Google is the government’s antitrust lawsuit targeting Google’s search business, which could result in a major split. In August, a federal judge ruled that Google had a monopoly in the online search market. In explaining its case, the Justice Department pointed to various aspects of Google’s business, including the multibillion-dollar deals it made with companies like Apple and Mozilla to keep Google as the default search engine. The DOJ argues that this deters competitors from launching their own search engines. Judge Amit Mehta agreed, saying that this dominance also allows Google to increase the prices of search text ads or sponsored links displayed in Google Search.

To restore balance to the market, the Justice Department has proposed that Google make a radical change: It wants Google to sell its web browser, Chrome. The web browser has been an integral part of Google’s business since its launch in 2008, but the Justice Department wants it to be placed in the hands of a court-approved third party. The Justice Department’s questions don’t end there, as it also wants to prevent Google from favoring its search engine or browser within its own products, such as Android, YouTube, and even AI chatbot Gemini. Other remedies include opening access to Google’s search syndication system to competitors and allowing websites to opt out of AI Overviews. If Google does not want to comply with these solutions or if the solutions are not enough to break Google’s monopoly, the Ministry of Justice recommends that Google also divest Android.

Yelp is also targeting Google’s search engine with its own antitrust lawsuit, alleging that Google gives preferential treatment to its local results. The EU launched an investigation into Google’s compliance with the Digital Markets Act (DMA) and the company I recently lost my appeal. that would allow it to pay a $2.7 billion antitrust fine stemming from allegations that it gave its own shopping results an unfair advantage on Google Search.

Google Play Store is also under fire. In 2020, Epic Games sued Google over allegations that it created an illegal monopoly by making it difficult for developers and users to access other app stores, as well as preventing them from using alternative payment processors within apps. The jury ultimately sided with Epic Games and ruled that the Play Store and its billing system were an illegal monopoly. Last month, Judge James Donato ordered Google to distribute third-party app stores through Google Play and grant third-party app stores access to all apps in the Play Store for the next three years (unless developers opt out). Although Judge Donato had initially requested that Google comply with his November 1 decision, Google won a temporary stay that would put most of these changes on hold while Google appealed the decision.

Google, meanwhile, is facing another lawsuit from Epic, which accuses the tech giant of colluding with Samsung to shut down third-party app stores by allowing users to download apps to new phones from “authorized sources.”

Google’s ad tech experiment is leading to similar massive ramifications that could disrupt its profitable advertising business. It grossed $237.9 billion in 2023. If the Justice Department has its way, a judge could force Google to create tools that would allow third-party companies to use ad technology and reach Google’s customers. Closing arguments are due today, but a decision isn’t expected for another few months, and Trump will be in office by then.

All of these cases will likely be settled under new management, which could affect their outcomes. While President Joe Biden has taken a tougher stance on antitrust enforcement, Trump is expected to take a more hands-off approach to regulation, which has not gone unnoticed by company executives. But that still doesn’t mean Google is safe from the Trump administration. The Justice Department’s antitrust case against Google’s search engine was filed in 2020, while Trump was still president. Trump has also long criticized Google for allegedly producing negative search results about him, and was particularly vocal about the issue in the months before the US presidential election.

Trump called Google search results “fraudulent” and threatened pursue criminal charges Following allegations that the search engine supported his political rival, Vice President Kamala Harris. Although Trump said he would “do something” when asked if he would break up Google, he also suggested that the Justice Department’s current antitrust case is “dangerous” because “we don’t want China to own companies like Google.”

Even if nothing comes of these lawsuits, Google will have to change the way it operates to avoid further outrage and legal threats. Whether that means being more careful when it comes to purchases or thinking twice about choosing one over other products, this newfound wariness can result in damage. in 2019 Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates said: The company missed out on surpassing Android as the “dominant mobile operating system” because it was “distracted” by the government’s antitrust case in the early 2000s.

A change of tone has already begun to occur at Google. CEO Sundar Pichai appeared to allude to the search engine’s perceived “bias” against Trump and right-wing politicians in a obtained Election Day memo. threshold. “No matter who voters entrust us with, let us remember the role we play in the workplace, through the products we create and as a business: to be a trusted source of information for people of all backgrounds and beliefs,” he wrote. Trump claimed to have spoken to Pichai on the phone on multiple occasions; This is a possible sign that the Google executive was trying to get on Trump’s good side before taking office.

Whatever the case, Google has a long fight ahead of it and may not be able to get out of this legal net in one piece.