DoJ Suggests Google Should Sell Chrome for Fair Competition

On Wednesday, the Department of Justice (DoJ) submitted proposed remedies in the DC District Court to address the Google search monopoly, after the meeting between Google employees and the DOJ Antitrust Division on October 23.

The DoJ highlighted Google’s ownership of the Chrome browser fortifies the giant’s control over web searches. The Department’s proposed measures also include the possibility of divesting Chrome, and if needed, Android, to regulate fair competition.

However, the antitrust breakup will only go into action if Google doesn’t comply with other remedies, like allowing fair access to its search index or not favoring Google Search on Android devices.

The case, presided over by Judge Amit Mehta, is set for a remedies trial in April 2025 in Washington, DC. The trial will determine the best way to even out the playing field in the online search market.

 In a blog post, Kent Walker, Alphabet’s Chief Legal Officer, described the DOJ’s proposals as “wildly overboard” and part of a “radical interventionist agenda.” Walker also warned that such actions could harm US technology leadership.

Employee Concerns in this Uncertainty

The Google antitrust breakup case, focused on business practices, could also have serious repercussions on the workforce. Google’s parent company’s employees’ union, Alphabet Workers Union-CWA AWU-CWA met with the DOJ on October 23, to urge the governmental agency to consider how remedies affect employees and protect workers from retaliation from the tech giant.

“Remedies, whatever they will be, will not succeed if workers continue in fear of reprisal,” stated Parul Koul, a Google software engineer and president of AWU-CWA.

The union members backed employees and warned against discussing the lawsuit, sparking complaints to the National Labor Relations Board. Google opposed a request mandating “employees refrain from discussing the case without preapproval.”

Should Google’s Search Engine Monopoly be Broken Up?

Although these challenges are clear and present, employees such as Koul and Alan McAvinney believe that they must have a voice in shaping the future. Koul told The Verge that, “Our approach is really coming out of a sense of, ‘no decisions about us, without us.”

The remedies proposed by the DOJ goes beyond the breakup of all Google monopoly practices, and businesses core, as it seeks to eliminate Google from paying companies such as Apple to make its search engine the default and bans the royal like treatment of its search services on platforms as YouTube.

The DOJ also proposed allowing website owners to opt out of any Google search monopoly and AI generated content overviews without penalties. These measures will reduce Google’s dominion over the search market and create opportunities for competitors to grow.

For Google employees, such consequential changes bring along a wave of uncertainties. If there is a change, jobs may get shifted or in the worst-case scenario, lost. Workers are urging transparency, fairness, and protection for their rights during the process.

The Next Move

The April remedies trial will seal the deal for future competition in the tech world. Meanwhile, Google is also under the radar for another antitrust case over its ad tech business, with closing arguments set for Monday in a Virginia district court.

The Google search engine monopoly case is not going to be circulated around regulating Google search monopoly only, as it will also set a precedent for how governments address tech monopolies, waning the pace of innovation, competition, and employees’ rights in the coming years.

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