The Department of Justice late Tuesday indicated that it was considering a possible breakup of Google as an antitrust remedy.

KEY POINTS

  • The Department of Justice late Tuesday indicated that it was considering a possible breakup of Google as an antitrust remedy.
  • The DOJ said it was “considering behavioral and structural remedies that would prevent Google from using products such as Chrome, Play, and Android to advantage Google search.”
  • The judge has yet to decide on the remedies, and Google will likely appeal, drawing out the process potentially for years.
  • KNova
    8•1 month ago

    I know very little about the operating structure of Google, but I wonder how this would work functionally. Doesn’t most of their revenue come from ads? So like you couldn’t have google search’s ad business help to prop up the lines of business that don’t make money (Youtube, chrome development)

    I’m not anti-breakup but I just wonder if this would imperil some of their lines of business. Like would Youtube shove even more ads down your throat post-breakup?

    • @[email protected]
      5•1 month ago

      A great question, Id never considered that previously.

      My instant gut feeling would be that they would all just continue selling adds, but as separate entities?

      Also how does breaking up google work when the current structure is that Alphabet is the primary company now?

      • KNova
        2•1 month ago

        I took “breaking up Google” to mean the Alphabet suite of companies; I had presumed “Google” was just shorthand for “Alphabet”. But I might be wrong

        • @[email protected]
          1•1 month ago

          You’re most likely right, they recognize the headline saying “DOJ considering breaking up Alphabet” would be meaningless to most people.

      • @[email protected]
        1•1 month ago

        Correct. They’d just sell ads the same way other services sell 3rd party ads through Google (or rarely, other services. Doubleclick was a big one before, you know, Google bought them)