A hearing began in Washington, DC today. This allows Google to determine whether it remains in its current form or whether it could face penalties such as selling a popular Chrome web browser.
The so-called treatment hearing is the result of a Court decision last August Google runs a monopoly and uses its dominant market position to crush its rivals and cover up innovation.
The US Department of Justice has argued that Google should be forced to sell its Chrome browser. This describes the agency as “one of the biggest entry points that exist in the search.” The government argues that by selling Chrome, rivals will have the opportunity to compete for search queries, but such changes dramatically reconstruct Google’s parent, Alphabet.
“Google can compete, but they simply don’t want to compete on a level playing field,” Justice Department lawyer David Dahlquist said Monday during the court opening. “Google is currently afraid to compete against rivals who will only be stronger by introducing proposed bailouts.”
The hearing comes days after Google was branded as an abusive monopoly Separate cases It determined that the tech giant would illegally use some of its online marketing technologies to boost profits. The recent case focuses on Google’s online advertising business, building around search engines and widely used products such as Chrome and YouTube.
Here are some things you need to know about current sense of relief hearing:
What is the Google hearing?
US District Judge Amit Meta It was ruled in August Google has illegally exploited its advantages to squash competition and curb innovation.
According to a November investigation note from Goldman Sachs analyst Eric Sheridan, the current hearing aims to address potential relief measures, and Mehta is expected to make a decision by August 2025.
“We are not here to trust this case, but to ask the court to correct the harm from Google’s misconduct,” Attorney General Gail Slater said in a statement Monday before discussion at the beginning of the hearing.
What does the Department of Justice want?
The Justice Department is seeking some changes, Dalkist said Monday during trial.
They are:
Force Google to sell your Chrome browser. Google needs to share data that will help new entrants overcome the barriers to entry.
Some of the changes DOJ is looking for will continue for years. Sheridan said that the requirements include “Google to allow continuous access to the search index, enabling search data (up to 10 years) available for available users and ads, including syndicate search text ad data up to one year, syndication of search results, understanding ranking signals and queries (US Queries and for us).
What happens to chrome?
John Sallet, representing a state group that joined the Justice Department in the case, said in his opening statement that his first priority was the sale of Chrome.
Chrome is a “very attractive asset” with over 4.1 billion global users, he added. “This type of assets don’t come up that often.”
Selling can occur in a variety of ways, including spin-offs and sales of business units. In some cases, the company’s existing shareholders (in this case Google Parent Alphabet) will receive new shares in the business that was sold.
AT&T may be one of the most well-known companies that fell apart after being accused of running an exclusive right. The telephone giant split into several small businesses as part of a 1982 settlement with the US government, leading to the creation of several smaller regional telephone operators, such as Bell South and Bell Atlantic.
Splitting Chrome is likely to be a financial hit with Google’s revenue, Goldman’s Sheridan added. He says it will not only limit Google’s search revenue, but also limit access to search query volumes and user data.
What is Google’s response to DOJ?
Google attacked the government’s proposed antitrust law, attacking its leading lawyer, John Schmidtlein, calling them “fundamentally flawed,” claiming that they would unfairly punish the company for its innovation.
“Google has achieved market position through hard work and ingenuity,” says Schmidtlein.
The sale of chrome is “far from simple,” he said, adding that the remedy would include the open source chrome project that Google has created beyond browsers and has supported for many years.
“The order calls for all the requests that are important to the functioning of chrome, not just chrome,” Schmiddlein said. “What does that mean? They leave it to the technical committee, but there’s no clear definition of what constitutes the assets they need.”
He criticized the process, cautioning that Google would be effectively banned from the browser market for 10 years, saying there was no clear path to assess potential buyers. “I can’t imagine an antitrust treatment that will bring this close,” he added.
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