The US Department of Justice is considering splitting up Google after a court found it a monopoly in the online search market. This could be the first time a company has been split up due to illegal monopolization since attempts to break up Microsoft in the early 2000s failed. Options for impacting Google range from breaking up the company to less radical measures such as forcing it to share data more openly with competitors and curbing its dominance in artificial intelligence.

 

The government’s main focus is on banning exclusive contracts, which played a key role in the lawsuit against Google. If the split goes through, the most likely candidates for sale will be the Android operating system and the Google Chrome web browser. The possibility of a forced sale of the AdWords platform, which Google uses to sell text and display ads, is also under consideration.

 

The potential abandonment of the Android OS, which is installed on approximately 2.5 billion devices worldwide, is particularly hotly debated. The fact is that Google requires device manufacturers to sign agreements obliging them to install its applications, such as Gmail and the Google Play Store, and to place the search widget and the Chrome browser in such a way that they cannot be removed. This effectively blocks competition from other search engines.

 

After Judge Amit Mehta’s ruling that Google illegally monopolized the online search and search text advertising markets, discussions at the Justice Department intensified. Mehta also ordered the start of planning for the second phase of the case, which will consider the government’s proposals to restore competition, including a possible division of the company. However, this plan still needs to be approved by a court in order for Google to be bound by it.

 

If the forced split of Google is approved, it would be the biggest split of a US company since AT&T split in the 1980s.