The U.S. Department of Justice and Google continue their legal battle over what remedies will be put in place to address Google’s search monopoly. Google CEO Sundar Pichai on Wednesday took the stand in defense of the search giant.
The United States Department of Justice (DoJ) won an antitrust lawsuit against Google in 2024, with U.S. federal judge Amit Mehta ruling that Google holds a monopoly in the search and advertising business, in violation of U.S. antitrust laws. Now the DoJ wants Google to sell its Chrome browser.
Judge Mehta is now considering the punishment, as well as the remedies Google will face to resolve the situation.
The DoJ is also looking to block Google from making search engine agreements like the one it has with Apple, and forcing it to share “critical portions” of its search data with competitors at a “marginal cost.” That data would also include how it ranks search results and query understanding information.
On the stand, Pichai said those remedies would essentially mean the death of Google search.
As reported by The New York Times, Pichai said Mr. Pichai said that the government’s proposal would lead the company to make fewer investments in new technology if it needs to share the benefits with its competitors for a minimal fee.
“The combination of all the remedies, I think, makes it unviable to invest in the R&D the way we have for the past three decades, to continue to innovate and build Google search,” he said, referring to research and development.
Pichai said that the data sharing requirement would be a “de facto divestiture” of Google’s intellectual property, claiming that it would allow any company to “completely reverse engineer, end to end, every aspect of [Google’s] technology stack.” He went on to say that the DoJ’s proposal is “extraordinary” and “far reaching.”
Google wants to be able to continue to make search engine deals like the one it has with Apple. For several years, Google has paid Apple billions of dollars per year to keep its position as the default engine for Apple’s Safari browser, which is the default browser on the iOS, iPadOS, and Mac platforms. The deal provides Google with a significant advantage over other search providers.
While Apple executives maintain that Google is the best search option for its users, the company’s optinion on the subject may be influenced just a bit by the 36% cut of Google’s ad revenue that Apple receives from Google for searches performed in the Safari browser.
Judge Amit Mehta is overseeing the case, and will hear testimony from both Google and the DoJ before he decides on remedies. While a decision is expected by August, we’ll likely see this battle go on for years, as Google will most likely appeal any ruling.
