Media: Authorities Consider Motion to Split Google

According to Bloomberg, breaking up the tech giant is just one — and the most radical — of the possible measures to reduce Google’s dominance. Others include forcing the company to share data with competitors and mechanisms to prevent it from gaining an unfair advantage in artificial intelligence. Federal prosecutors will also seek an injunction against exclusivity agreements, such as those that Google has with Apple to ensure that its search engine is the default option for users.

Such agreements were one reason a federal court in Washington, D.C., in a landmark ruling found Google guilty of illegally exploiting and maintaining a monopoly on the search engine and online advertising markets, ruling among other things that it harms consumers and stifles innovation.

Find out more at: Google Created an “Illegal Monopoly.” Groundbreaking U.S. Court Ruling

The court still has to decide on a penalty and remedies. The U.S. Justice Department, which along with a number of state prosecutors filed the lawsuit against Google, has until September 4 to present its proposed solutions, with a hearing scheduled for September 6.

According to the New York Times, among the options being considered by federal prosecutors is forcing Google to sell the part of the company responsible for the Android operating system or the Chrome browser. Such a scenario would not be the first in the history of antitrust proceedings.

In the last case of such significance—against Microsoft 20 years ago—the court initially ordered the company to sell part of its empire, though an appeals court reversed that ruling. As the NYT notes, however, the ruling had long-term effects, reducing the company's dominance and allowing rival companies—like Google—to flourish.