GOOGL: Google Staring Into Possible Breakup as DOJ Seeks to Restore Competition

Department of Justice has filed a range of possible changes for the tech juggernaut as a response to a federal judge who ruled that Google is a “monopolist.”

• Google GOOGL is in hot water. The Department of Justice said late Tuesday it would ask the tech empire to perform sweeping changes to its business — including a possible breakup. It’s all a result of federal judge Amit. P. Mehta’s ruling in August, which said that Google was operating as a “monopolist,” paying billions of dollars to be the default search engine of web browsers and phone makers, including Apple AAPL.
• The filing proposes “a full range of tools” to be implemented to restore competition and prevent Google from using its Chrome browser and Android operating system to leverage its search engine, which soaks up about 90% of all internet searches worldwide. Now Mehta has about a year to decide what to do with the DOJ’s filing. But breaking up a company isn’t easy — especially a big tech juggernaut.
• The last such breakup happened more than 40 years ago. Google itself has been involved in two such high-stake cases, both unsuccessful. The tech company hit back at the allegations in a blog post, saying that the Justice Department’s proposals are “radical and sweeping” and might have “negative unintended consequences for American innovation and America’s consumers.” Shares of Google stayed flat in after-hours trading, boasting a 19% year-to-date increase.