Should Google be broken up? That's what the US Department of Justice (DOJ) is suggesting and hoping for. On Wednesday, October 9, in a lengthy 32-page document, the department proposed sanctions that could shatter the empire of the digital giant, still the undisputed leader in online search, with 90% of market share. "Plaintiffs are considering behavioral and structural remedies that would prevent Google from using products such as Chrome, Play, and Android to advantage Google search and Google search-related products and features," wrote Washington federal judge Amit Mehta.

In antitrust jargon, the message is clear: Google should be forced to split, or even to sell, its internet browser, mobile app store or smartphone ecosystem to prevent it from giving preferential treatment to its search engine as the default service, unfairly maintaining its quasi-monopoly, according to the DOJ's reasoning.

The indictment also considers requiring Google to share the data it gathers on users' internet searches with its competitors. This data is valuable for targeted advertising based on users' interests. Additionally, the document suggests restricting Google's ability to train its artificial intelligence (AI) models on the search data and queries of its engine's users.

Such an attack on Google's realm is unprecedented. It suggests a major change for the giant, which reports $307 billion in revenue (€280 billion), with more than half of that coming from online search, and is projected to have a net profit of $73 billion in 2023. The specter of being broken up is reminiscent of historic antitrust cases: the break-up of telecoms behemoth AT&T in 1984 and the landmark case of Microsoft for giving preferential treatment to its Explorer browser over its Windows environment in 1999.

Moreover, sensing the threat, Google has strongly denounced proposals deemed "radical" and likely to have "unintended consequences for consumers, businesses, and American competitiveness." "Splitting off Chrome or Android would break them" and "raise the cost of devices" while weakening competition against the iPhone universe, the company argued in a statement. "Forcing Google to share your search queries, clicks, and results with competitors risks your privacy and security," it also argued. Limiting its development of artificial intelligence "risks holding back American innovation at a critical moment."

In August, Google experienced a setback in court when a judge deemed its exclusive contracts with Apple, worth over $20 billion, for installing its default search engine on iPhones, to be unlawful. This ruling adds to the pressure Google is facing from competition authorities, as another judge recently ruled that Google must allow alternative app stores on Android.

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