US Considers a Rare Antitrust Move: Breaking Up Google

Yes please. Google has become a monster.

This is yet another reason we need President Harris.

Trump will let Google get away with it.

Good. Microsoft next.

Breakup Divesting the Android operating system, used on about 2.5 billion devices worldwide, is one of the remedies that’s been most frequently discussed by Justice Department attorneys, according to the people. In his decision, Mehta found that Google requires device makers to sign agreements to gain access to its apps like Gmail and the Google Play Store.

It would be wonderful

If the Justice Department pushes ahead with a breakup plan, the most likely units for divestment are the Android operating system and Google’s web browser Chrome

Hell yes. If Android is divested from Google, that would significantly reduce Google's attempts to lock down the OS, and would probably make alternative app stores more popular as the Play Store becomes just one of many options for manufacturers that would no longer be required to provide it on all Android devices.

And as for Chrome, about damn time. A browser with that much marketshare shouldn't also be owned by the largest search engine and ad network. That's just a recipe for monopolizing internet standards and access.

Another option would require Google to divest or license its data to rivals, such as Microsoft’s Bing or DuckDuckGo

More competition in the search engine space? Sign me up. Google has too much control over the quality of search results simply due to their size.

Break them up. and then don't let them slowly re-consolidate in the following 20 years.

If this goes through, every big tech company could be in the crosshairs.

I'm all for it.

I like how at the same time apple decided to fuck Patreon users (not even the first victims), and no one can or is willing to do anything, except maybe for eu in some cases. I say if we go for monopolies, let's go for all of them!

Kroger next 👏👏

Imagine living in a post Google internet.

I'll believe it when I see it but it was nice to have a court case actually convicting them.

Edit:

the most likely units for divestment are the Android operating system and Google’s web browser Chrome, said the people. Officials are also looking at trying to force a possible sale of AdWords, the platform the company uses to sell text advertising, one of the people said.

That would be so nice, there was already a huge thread about how much Google screws over Android too.

Break em up! Break em up!

Would be the most based thing the FTC ever did.

The interesting thing about a possible Google break-up is that there's only one part of the company that generates revenues.

YouTube, Google Search, Google Maps, Gmail, Android, Chrome, Google Drive, etc. are all money losers. Many of them don't even offer an option to pay for the service. And, those that do generate tiny revenues compared to the ads machine.

Android is a huge money loser, but it's worth it because all the things Android's required to have end up showing people Google ads. If Android were split off, what would happen? Would Samsung etc. have to pay a fee to license the OS? Since it's an open source project, isn't it more likely they'd fork the code and just roll their own distribution? Maybe Samsung just buys Android? If so, what happens to Huawei, Lenovo, Xiaomi, etc? Maybe all the Chinese firms band together and support a fork of Android?

With Chrome, Google can afford to spend hundreds of millions a year developing it and then give it away for free because it not only sends people to Google Search, but it also collects all kinds of data on people's browsing habits that can be used to tailor the ads they're shown. If it's spun off then what, do they think that for the first time ever people are going to be willing go spend $79.99 and actually buy a browser? Or a $19.99 monthly browser subscription? Almost certainly not. Which means people would use a free browser. On non-Apple OSes every browser other than Firefox uses the Blink codebase, which is basically Chrome, and developed by engineers working for Google. If Chrome is split off into its own company, what will happen to Blink? The existing codebase is open, but what's the business model for coders at the new Chrome Inc. to keep working on it? So... does Microsoft now start paying Chrome Inc. to keep working on Blink? Or do they bring the browser back in-house again and we see the return of Internet Explorer? As for Firefox, it spends hundreds of millions per year on developing software, mostly Firefox. But, 90% of that money comes from Google, and that's almost certain to stop. So, they'll need to find a new business model too.

This is so different from previous break-ups. When AT&T was broken up, all that really happened was that instead of paying AT&T for their phone service, people now started paying NYNEX or Bell Atlantic or US West. But, now you're dealing with a company where virtually every service they offer is free, subsidized by the ads they show, which can only exist when that service harvests personal data to feed the ad machine.

My personal suspicion is that this is such new territory that the Justice Department is probably not going to try to break Google up. They're probably going to forbid things like paying off Apple and Firefox. They may force Google to license key search engine data. They may put restrictions on the ad machine. Breaking it up would be like knocking over a domino without knowing what the chain reaction would be. Also, I personally hope that if they take the win and choose a simple remedy, it will allow them to set a precedent and move on to all the other monopolies.

But if you break apart Google, how will they afford to keep killing off their own services!?!

Too good to be true! There's a lot of monopolies. Please do Amazon too.

Google NEEDS to be broken up badly. They are essentially a monopoly in the online space, from chrome to search to maps to youtube.

Every service is abusing the power of the others to grow their market share and kill competition.

I used to love Google. They pushed the web and tech in the right direction.

But somewhere along the way they've been taken over by marketing cunts that only looked at the bottom line and didn't care how evil or anti consumer they became.

Way too rare, if you ask me.

Good, but why now? For years, Google has been way more dominant both practically and culturally until very recently, and only now after they stumbled hard with their AI venture, Bing catching up, and their public opinion dropping do they decide to break the company up.

Does this mean that a monopoly is good as long as it's successful, but once it starts stumbling and outlives its use that's when the government is gonna do something about it?

I'll believe it if I ever live to see it.

I love that the Judge's last name is Mehta

I'm worried about YouTube, but the rest of it can go. I don't think anyone has the storage space for YouTube except Google. I wouldn't be surprised if YouTube's data was in the exabyte range.

Break em up!

Do they need to split off different departments? Since most of the stuff that Google dabbles in is digital, can't they just start a few new companies with the exact same IP and split up the work force instead?

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