The U.S. Federal Trade Commission is reportedly considering breaking up Google LLC following its intervention via amicus brief into the Epic Games Inc. v. Google case regarding Google’s practices relating to competition and payments in its Play store.
The case involved Epic Games, best known as the company behind the highly popular online game “Fortnite,” suing Google over allegations that the search engine giant holds an illegal monopoly with its Play store. Despite losing a similar case against Apple Inc., Epic Games won its case against Google in the federal court in December.
The court case in December was appealed by Google to the Supreme Court, with the FTC now entering the case via an amicus brief. Though some observers consider the idea of the FTC breaking up Google unlikely, the idea that it could be an option is suggested in a media release from the FTC itself.
In the FTC’s own words, “the FTC encourages the court to use its broad power to order a remedy that stops the illegal conduct, prevents its recurrence, and restores competition.” The release and the key part of the break claim comes next: ” Injunctive relief should also restore lost competition in a forward-looking way and should ensure a monopolist is not continuing to reap the advantages and benefits obtained through the antitrust violation.”
Though it should be said that at no point does the FTC outright say that Google should be broken up, any lay reader with a knowledge of U.S. antitrust law and English can reasonably come to that conclusion. And there’s more.
“Looking forward in cases like Epic v. Google often requires the consideration of network effects, data feedback loops, and other key features of digital markets,” the FTC writes. “This could help ensure that potential competitors can overcome the advantages established digital platforms often gain, which include network effects and data incumbency.”
But the real kicker comes towards the end. “Google’s monopolistic behavior has significantly harmed millions of users in the United States,” the FTC adds. “Allowing monopolists to reap the rewards of illegal monopolization while avoiding the costs of restoring the competition that they unlawfully eliminated would undermine deterrence.”
There is a strong possibility that the FTC is hinting at a possible breakup of Google as a negotiating tactic; nonetheless, it should be taken seriously.
According to Bloomberg, less severe options than a breakup of Google include forcing Google to share more data with competitors and measures to prevent it from gaining an unfair advantage in AI products. Should a breakup occur, first up would be forcing Google to divest both its Android operating system and its Chome web browser.