Google Breakup Proposed

Following a recent US ruling that Google acted illegally to maintain a monopoly on its online search and the associated advertising, the US government has now proposed forcing Google to sell off parts of its business, potentially leading to the breakup of one of the world’s leading tech companies. 

Antitrust Remedies – Structural Relief Suggested 

After years of investigation and following the outcome in August of a ten-week trial, a US judge delivered the landmark ruling that, “Google is a monopolist, and it has acted as one to maintain its monopoly.”  At the time, ‘structural’ remedies, i.e. ‘structural relief’ (altering the structure of a company to restore competitive conditions in a market) was one of the remedies suggested to curb Google’s anticompetitive practices (if other remedies weren’t adequate). In plain English, structural relief essentially means breaking up a company.