The proposal is much narrower in scope than the government’s proposal to force Google to sell its Chrome browser, which Google calls a bold intervention in the search market.
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Alphabet Inc.’s Google on Friday said it would ease agreements with Apple and others that set Google as the default search engine on new devices to address a U.S. ruling that says Google illegally controls online search. suggested.
The proposal is much narrower than the government’s proposal to force Google to sell its Chrome browser, which Google calls a bold intervention in the search market.
Google asks U.S. District Judge Amit Mehta in Washington to decide what the company should do to restore competition after the company was ruled to have an illegal monopoly in online search and related advertising. He urged them to proceed with caution. Google said in court papers that courts have warned against imposing antitrust laws that would stifle innovation.
This is especially true in an environment where “remarkable innovations in artificial intelligence are rapidly changing the way people interact with many online products and services, including search engines,” Google said.
Google plans to appeal the ruling at the end of the case, but says future “remedy” steps should focus on sales agreements with browser developers, mobile device manufacturers and wireless carriers.
The judge found that these agreements gave Google “a significant, almost intangible advantage over its competitors,” resulting in Google’s search engine being preinstalled on most devices in the United States. did.
The judge said the deal would be difficult to break, especially for Android manufacturers because they would have to agree to install Google Search in order to have Google’s Play Store on their devices.
To fix this, Google could make them non-exclusive and separate the Play Store from Chrome and search for Android phone manufacturers, the company said in its proposal.
Under the proposal, Google would allow browser developers who agree to set its search engine as the default to reconsider that decision annually.
revenue sharing
Contrary to the government’s proposal, Google does not intend to end revenue-sharing agreements that give Google a portion of the advertising revenue it generates from search to device and software companies that offer Google as their default search engine.
Independent browser developers, including Firefox developer Mozilla, say the funding is critical to their operations. Apple received an estimated $20 billion in 2022 alone from its deal with Google.
Kamil Bazbaz, a spokesperson for search engine competitor DuckDuckGo, said the proposal seeks to maintain the status quo.
“If a court finds a violation of competition law, the remedy must not only stop the illegal conduct and prevent its recurrence, but also restore competition in the affected market,” he said.
Google’s proposal sets the stage for a trial Mehta will hold in April, in which the U.S. Department of Justice and a coalition of states will argue that a wide range of measures including forcing Google to sell Chrome and potentially the Android mobile operating system The aim will be to demonstrate the need for remedial measures. .
According to court documents, the government plans to call witnesses from OpenAI, AI search startup Perplexity, and Microsoft.
Prosecutors also ordered Google to stop paying fees to be the default search engine, stop investing in search rivals and query-based AI products, and license its search results and technology to rivals. I’m also looking for that.
The proposal is aimed at fostering innovation in online search, with Mehta arguing that Google’s overwhelming market share prevents competitors from collecting the search data they need to improve their products, and that Google’s He pointed out that this is hindering the expansion of AI’s advantage.
