Okay, so the U.S. government is, like, totally getting serious about taking on Google! They might even break them up! This is all going down right after a huge court ruling last week that was, like, “Hey Google, you’re totally abusing your search monopoly and not letting anyone else play.” I mean, can you believe it?
Why They’re Thinking About Breaking Up Google
So, here’s the tea. The Department of Justice (DOJ) has been all over Google since they filed this big antitrust lawsuit on October 20, 2020. And last week’s ruling just made everything, like, way more intense. The judge was basically like, “Google, you’re being so unfair with your search engine dominance,” and now the government’s thinking, “Maybe we need to, like, break you up.”
Google has, like, a 90% share of the global search engine market—seriously, they’re huge! And the DOJ is super mad about how Google has these deals with device makers and web browsers to make Google the default search engine. The DOJ thinks that’s just not cool and is hurting competition.
Jonathan Kanter, who’s been running the DOJ’s Antitrust Division since November 2021, is, like, totally not here for Big Tech running the show. He’s all about, like, bringing competition back, even if that means breaking up companies like Google. He literally said in June 2023, “We are not going to shy away from using the full scope of our powers to ensure competition is restored,” and that includes, like, breaking them up if necessary.
Google’s Like, No Way!
But Google’s all, “Nope, not true!” They keep saying that their services are, like, totally awesome for consumers and that they’re super successful because they’re innovative, not because they’re cheating. Google’s, like, breaking us up would be a total disaster for everyone!
Kent Walker, Google’s Senior VP of Global Affairs, was all, “People use Google because they choose to—not because they’re forced to or because they can’t find alternatives.” And he’s, like, super confident that a court will see that “consumers are benefiting from our services and that there is robust competition in the industry.”
Google’s also saying, “Hey, we’re not the only game in town!” They’re like, “We’ve got competition everywhere!” As of 2024, Google controls about 28.6% of the U.S. digital advertising market, but Facebook’s got 20.2% and Amazon’s rocking 14.6%. So, yeah, the market’s still competitive, they say.
The Legal Drama Continues
So, like, even though the DOJ scored a big win with last week’s ruling, this whole Google thing is going to be, like, super complicated and take forever. Breaking up a huge company like Google isn’t easy. The last time something like this happened was way back in 1982 when they broke up AT&T. But Google’s a totally different beast because all their services are, like, so connected and global.
The legal stuff is going to go on for a while. There are probably going to be, like, a million appeals, so don’t expect anything to happen overnight. Meanwhile, Google’s going to keep doing their thing, but the regulators are keeping a close eye on them. They’re also thinking about, like, other ways to keep Big Tech in check, like making them be more transparent and putting restrictions on their business practices.
What This Means for Big Tech
If Google actually gets broken up, it could be, like, a total game-changer for other big tech companies like Amazon, Apple, and Facebook. They’re all facing antitrust issues too, and if Google goes down, they might be next in line for some serious government action.
Tim Wu, who’s an antitrust expert and part of the White House’s National Economic Council, told CNBC in May 2024, “The government is clearly signaling that it’s willing to take on Big Tech in ways we haven’t seen in decades. The Google case is just the beginning.”
So yeah, everyone’s watching to see if the U.S. government is really going to break up one of the biggest and most iconic companies of our time. Like, stay tuned, because this is going to be a wild ride!
XOXO,
Valley Girl News
