Washington, D.C. — Following Google’s loss to the Department of Justice Antitrust Division in a case over its search monopoly, the American Economic Liberties Project today released a new paper laying out a detailed framework of structural and behavioral remedies to address Google’s illegal monopolization of search markets and foster a fair, competitive digital ecosystem. The new brief, “Google Broke Internet Search. It’s Time to Break Up Google,” follows reports that the DOJ is weighing a remedy to force Google to sell off Chrome along “with measures related to artificial intelligence and its Android smartphone operating system.”

“Following the DOJ’s landmark win against one of the world’s most powerful technology companies, the court has a rare and critical opportunity to pry open the market for internet search and online advertising,” said Lee Hepner, Senior Legal Counsel at the American Economic Liberties Project. “Google broke internet search, and the penalty must match the crime. Remedies should include structural relief, like breaking up Android and Chrome, and behavioral safeguards to prevent the reemergence of a monopoly. Potential competitors deserve immediate reliefto start delivering real choice to users. As artificial intelligence reshapes the user experience, the foundational tools remain the same, and Google cannot be allowed to choke off innovation under the pretense of an evolving market.”

The new paper details how Google’s anti-competitive practices, including exclusive agreements with device manufacturers and browsers, have entrenched its dominance across search and search text advertising markets, stifling competition and innovation. The proposed remedies, grounded in historical precedent and informed by a deep understanding of search engine technologies, emphasize the need for both structural and behavioral interventions, along with interim relief, including:

• Structural Remedies: Divestiture of key Google assets, including Android and Chrome, to ensure standalone competition; compulsory licensing of Google’s web index, search algorithms, and AI models to lower barriers for rivals; and unbundling Google’s search and advertising businesses.
• Behavioral Remedies: Baf revenue-sharing agreements for default search placement, protection against workplace retaliation for whistleblowers, and measures to prevent further abuse of arbitration agreements and destruction of records.
• Interim Relief: Immediate moratorium on acquisitions and exclusionary contracts to mitigate harm during the lengthy remedies phase.

These measures aim to remove the entrenched barriers that prevent rival companies from competing effectively and fostering innovation in a market currently dominated by Google’s extensive infrastructure. By combining structural breakups, behavioral safeguards, and immediate actions, the report presents a robust, adaptable framework for restoring competition and preventing the reemergence of anti-competitive practices in internet search and adjacent markets.

Read “Google Broke Internet Search. It’s Time to Break Up Google,” here.

Learn more about Economic Liberties here.

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The American Economic Liberties Project works to ensure America’s system of commerce is structured to advance, rather than undermine, economic liberty, fair commerce, and a secure, inclusive democracy. Economic Liberties believes true economic liberty means entrepreneurs and businesses large and small succeed on the merits of their ideas and hard work; commerce empowers consumers, workers, farmers, and engineers instead of subjecting them to discrimination and abuse from financiers and monopolists; foreign trade arrangements support domestic security and democracy; and wealth is broadly distributed to support equitable political power.