Written by Judy Godoy
(Reuters) – Alphabet Inc's Google on Friday proposed relaxing its agreements with Apple Inc and others to make Google the default search engine on new devices, in an attempt to address U.S. rule that illegally dominates it. Search online.
This proposal is much narrower than the government's push to get Google to sell its Chrome browser, which Google described as a radical attempt to interfere in the search market.
Google Inc urged U.S. District Judge Amit Mehta in Washington to move cautiously in deciding what the company must do to restore competition, after ruling that the company illegally monopolizes online search and related advertising. Google said in court papers that courts have warned against imposing antitrust measures that work to discourage innovation.
This is especially true “in an environment where remarkable AI innovations are changing how people interact with many online products and services, including search engines,” Google said.
While Google plans to appeal this ruling at the end of the case, it says the next phase of “remedies” should focus on distribution agreements with browser developers, mobile device manufacturers, and wireless carriers.
The judge found that the agreements give Google “a significant and largely invisible advantage over its competitors” and result in most devices in the United States being pre-loaded with Google's search engine.
The judge said the agreements are difficult to break, especially for Android manufacturers, which must agree to install Google Search in order to include the Google Play Store on their devices.
To fix that, Google could make it non-exclusive, and for Android phone makers, it could separate its Play Store from Chrome and Search, the company said in its proposal.
Google would allow browser developers that agree to set its search engine as the default to reconsider that decision annually under the proposal.
Revenue sharing
Contrary to the government's proposal, Google will not end revenue-sharing agreements, which transfer a portion of the advertising revenue Google earns from search to the hardware and software companies that offer it as the default search engine.
independent (LON:) Browser developers, including Mozilla, which makes Firefox, have said the money is crucial to their operations. Apple received an estimated $20 billion from its agreement with Google in 2022 alone.
Camille Bazbaz, a spokesman for rival search engine DuckDuckGo, said the proposal attempts to maintain the status quo.
“Once a court finds a violation of competition laws, the remedy must not only stop the illegal behavior and prevent its recurrence, but must restore competition in the affected markets,” he said.
Google's proposal sets the stage for a trial that Mehta will convene in April, in which the US Justice Department and a coalition of states will seek to show the need for broad solutions, including forcing Google to sell the Chrome browser and possibly the Android mobile operating system. .
The government plans to call witnesses from OpenAI, AI research startup Perplexity, and Microsoft (NASDAQ:), according to court papers.
The plaintiffs also want Google to stop paying to be the default search engine, stop investing in search competitors and query-based AI products, and license its search results and technology to competitors.
The proposals aim to stimulate innovation in online search, as Mehta found that Google's overwhelming market share prevents competitors from collecting the search data needed to improve their products, and prevents Google from extending its dominance in search to artificial intelligence.
