6 Ways Google’s Antitrust Ruling Could Change the Internet

Shira Ovid
| Washington Post

A federal judge ruled Monday that Google broke the law by restricting competition in the internet search market, strengthening the company’s position.

It was the second time in the past year that a judge or jury has found Google to be an illegal monopoly, the previous case being over the way Google runs its Android app store.

The next steps, which include proposing legal solutions to change Google’s behavior, are essentially about imagining an alternative future in which Google is no longer the Google we know.

What new ideas might develop, what new companies might be created, or what products might become cheaper if Google were unable to exercise its monopoly power in search?

We have the internet we have, and it’s hard to imagine anything else, or want it more. I’ve outlined six changes that could come from two Google monopoly rulings.

That’s educated speculation. It’s also possible that little will change. That’s what happened after Google was found guilty of violating European Union antitrust law.

The US government must now propose to Judge Amit Mehta ways to stop Google’s actions in order to repair its monopoly. A resolution to this could take years. In the case of the app store, the judge will soon decide how Google must change its illegal status quo.

Google said it plans to appeal Monday’s ruling and is “focused on building products that people find helpful and easy to use.” A Google spokesperson declined to discuss speculation about what will happen next.

1. Imagine a Google-quality search engine without ads – or one that’s tailored to kids, news buffs, and Lego fans.

It is possible that Google will be forced to give other companies access to its search technology or its underlying data so that they can build search engines with the same technical level as Google – but without Google’s involvement.

You could imagine the company taking Google’s secret recipe and tweaking it to create a kid-friendly search engine, suggested Matt Stoller, research director at the American Economic Liberties Project and a frequent critic of Big Tech’s power. Another company might prioritize websites that care about your privacy. Another might display searches visually.

“We will see the emergence of human innovation,” Stoller said.

Allowing a thousand Google-like search engines to flourish is probably the idea that Google’s critics have embraced the most. But even if the government asks for it, and Mehta agrees, it might not work.

There have been other search engines, including Microsoft’s Bing, the privacy-focused DuckDuckGo, and Neeva, founded by a former Google executive. DuckDuckGo and Bing are nowhere near as popular or profitable as Google. Neeva was little used and shut down this year.

One question that could be put to the test is: If Google is forced to share search results that a judge says the company obtained illegally, could competitors create more engaging search engines?

2. Would Apple create a search engine?

Google pays Apple many billions of dollars a year ($20 billion in 2022) to make Google search the standard way to search the web in Apple’s Safari browser.

Thanks to this solution, Google has access to valuable searches of Apple device users and guarantees Apple a lot of money.

Megan Gray, an antitrust specialist at GrayMatters Law & Policy and a critic of Google’s power, said the judge could significantly alter or end Google’s deals with Apple and companies that put Google search at the forefront of Android phones and web browsers.

The most likely scenario is that you’ll have to choose whether to use Google on your iPhone or something else. But tech and stock market analysts have speculated for years that Apple could create its own search engine. It would be like when Apple launched Apple Maps as an alternative to Google Maps.

Apple did not respond to a request for comment.

3. Could prices drop for products that advertise next to your searches (i.e. most products)?

Mehta said Google has the ability to artificially inflate prices for text ads that you see when you search for terms like “Minneapolis car insurance.”

Theoretically, if alternative search engines became more popular, competition would increase and prices would rise for insurers and other companies trying to grab your attention.

And again, theoretically, if they paid less for advertising, your car insurance and other products you buy could be cheaper.

4. The company could be broken up into Baby Googles.

It seems unlikely, but the government could ask a judge to break up Google to fix its illegal monopoly power. In that scenario, Chrome could be a separate company, like Google Search and Android, for example.

Stoller said that when corporations like Standard Oil and AT&T were forced to split up in the past by illegal monopoly rulings, the companies within them had free rein to come up with clever ideas that wouldn’t have had a chance within the giant corporation.

5. What if Google didn’t know so much about you?

Jason Kint, CEO of the lobbying group Digital Content Next, said many Google products should no longer be able to mix information about what you do. It would essentially separate Google products without breaking up the company.

This means, for example, that everything you do on your Android phone or the websites you visit in Chrome won’t end up in one big Google repository of information about your activities and interests.

If Google had less information at its disposal, it could benefit your privacy and also help other companies, including news organizations, that don’t have as much data as Google.

6. You can download almost anything from Google’s Android app store.

Judge in Other The Google monopoly case appears to be helping to weaken the company’s absolute power over apps.

This could mean you’ll be able to buy an Amazon Kindle e-book from the Android app, something you can’t do right now. (Amazon founder Jeff Bezos owns The Washington Post.) Games like “Fortnite,” which haven’t been available on Android phones, could also be available.

During a recent court hearing, the judge also seemed open to lowering the fees Google charges when you buy digital subscriptions to things like Disney Plus, Match.com, or X from Android apps. That could translate into lower prices for things you buy in apps.