DOJ: We Need to End Google's 'Control of Distribution'

The Justice Department is considering asking a federal judge to break up Google after its ubiquitous search engine was declared an illegal monopoly—but it's just one of many possible remedies under review, according to a court filing. In court papers filed late Tuesday, per the AP, government lawyers outlined a series of potential remedies it may pursue, including restrictions on how Google's artificial intelligence mines other websites to deliver search results, and blocking Google from paying companies like Apple billions of dollars annually to ensure that Google is the default search engine presented to consumers on gadgets like iPhones.

Tuesday's filing is the first step in a monthslong legal process to come up with remedies that could reshape a company that's long been synonymous with online search. "For more than a decade, Google has controlled the most popular distribution channels, leaving rivals with little to no incentive to compete for users," the antitrust enforcers wrote in the filing. "Fully remedying these harms requires not only ending Google's control of distribution today, but also ensuring Google cannot control the distribution of tomorrow." US District Judge Amit Mehta ruled in August that Google's search engine has been illegally exploiting the dominance of its search engine to squash competition and stifle innovation. He has outlined a timeline for a trial on the proposed remedies next spring.

The court filing is the first time that the government has given any indication of the types of remedies it will pursue, but under the meticulous approach ordered by Mehta, the government may ultimately opt not to pursue remedies like divestiture. The Justice Department will conduct discovery over the coming weeks and put forth a more detailed proposal next month. Lee-Anne Mulholland, Google's vice president of regulatory affairs, alleged "government overreach" in response to the filing, saying the Department of Justice was "already signaling requests that go far beyond the specific legal issues" in this case. Google has already said it plans to appeal Mehta's ruling, but the tech giant must wait until he finalizes a remedy before doing so. (More Google stories.)