Report: U.S. considering forcing a Google breakup

The U.S. Justice Department is reportedly considering forcing parent company Alphabet to shed at least one of its units. Among the possibilities being explored following a judge’s ruling that Google violated antitrust laws, according to Bloomberg:

• Chrome, Google’s web browser. This one seems highly unlikely – web browsers aren’t exactly a lucrative business model.
• Android, Google’s operating system.
• Google Ads, the money-printing machine that generates billions of search and advertising dollars every quarter. (Although Bloomberg called it “AdWords.” They clearly didn’t get the memo that AdWords ceased to exist in 2018).

Why we care. While a breakup of Alphabet’s Google seems highly unlikely right now (Microsoft ultimately avoided a similar fate nearly 25 years ago despite a similar antitrust ruling), nothing is impossible. If Google is broken up, it will undoubtedly impact all search marketers. How much it will impact your SEO and ad strategies will be the big question, but let’s not get ahead of ourselves just yet.

Other options. The U.S. is also considering some “less severe options”:

• Prohibiting Google from forging default search agreements, like the $19 billion it paid Apple.
• Forcing Google to share more data with competitors.
• Somehow limiting Google from gaining an “unfair advantage in AI products.”

What about YouTube? One Alphabet unit not mentioned in the report was YouTube. This seems a bit surprising considering the video-sharing platform brought in $31.51 billion in advertising in 2023.

Dig deeper. Google’s illegal search monopoly: Industry reactions, implications